fa?m^!^ 


miiiii  I  imimtmfmm 


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1 25    GiH'ii  Sfnrics  ami    125    times   125    Hearty   Laiisrlis   for 
One  Dollar. 


A  FIRST-CLASS  BOOK, 


Irish  Wit  and  Humor, 


-OXTAIMXG 


The  best  Jokes  and  Witty  Sayings  of  Dean  Swift, 

John  Philpot  Curran,  Rev.  Father  O'Leary, 

and  Daniel  O'Connell. 


It  is  almost  unnecessary  for  us  to  say  that  trie  humorous  and  witty  sayings  and 
doings  of  such  men  as  Swift,  Curran,  Father  O'Leary,  and  O'Connell  have  ever 
passed  current  in  the  highest  circles  of  intellectual  and  retined  students  of  men  and 
manners.  The  present  collection  has  been  made  with  most  judicious  care,  and 
will  he  found  to  contain  all  the  best  y^^-r  d' esprit  of  these  celebrated  men,  a  care- 
ful regard  having  been  had  in  the  selection  for  modern  public  taste  as  well  as  for 
the  strictest  sense  of  morality. 


CON  TEN  T S 


His  Birth— Singular  Event 

A  Certificate  of  Marriage. 

Grace  after  Dinner. 

The  Tliree  Crosses. 

Chief-Justice  Whitshed. 
i"o  (.)uilca. 

Dr.  Pulteney. 

Resolutions  when  1  come 
to  be  Old. 

.Miss  Bennet. 

The  Feast  of  O'Rourke. 

Swift's  Behavior  at  Table 

Countess   of    Burlington. 

Swift's    Political     Princi- 
ples. 

Swift's  Charity. 

Public  Absurditv  in  Ire- 
land. 

Swift's       Peculiarity      oi 
Humor. 

Dr.  Bolton. 


DEAN  SWIFT, 

I   The  Scriblerus  Club. 
!   The  Upstart. 
i   Meditation  upon  a  broom- 
stick. 
■   (-ossing  a  Dolt. 

Trade  of  Ireland. 
:   A   Beggar's  Wedding, 
le  Pies— Short   Charity 
•ermon. 
,  A      Courtier's     Retort— 
I       Lying. 
I  Dr.  Sacheverell. 
j   Taxing  the  Air— Wisdom 
i   Epitaph  on  Judge  Boat. 
'   On    Stephen    Duck,    the 
Thresher  and   Favorite 
I       Poet. 
Dialogue   between   Swift 

and  his  Landlord. 
Roger  Cox. 
Roger  and  the  Poultry. 


Kelly  the  Blacksmith. 
I   Birthday  Presents. 

The  Dean's  Contnbutorv 
Dinner. 

Swift  and  Bettesworth. 

Swift     among   the    Law- 
!       yers.  ' 

!    Preaching  Patriotism. 
I   Swift  and  his  Cutler. 
I    His  Saturnalia. 
I   The    Dean    and     Faulk- 
1       ner. 

I  Swift.  Arbuthnot,  and 
{       Parnell. 

i  Dean  Swift  and  the 
I  Preacher  who  stole  his 
j       Sermon. 

I  Swift's    queer    Testimo- 
j       nial  to  his  Servant. 
I   Swift   at  Thomastown. 
f  Switt's  Lasc   Lines. 


[RISH  WIT  AND  HUMOR— Continued. 


JOHN   PHILPOT    CURRAN. 


His  Birth. 

Curran  as  Punch's  Man. 

At  a  Debating  Society. 

The  Bank— Duel  with  St. 
Leger. 

The  Monks  of  the  Screw. 

Lord  Avonmore. 

irlis  first  Client. 

Curran  and  the  Infor- 
mer. 


Lord  Clare. 

Curran's  Eloquence. 

Scene  between  Fitz- 
gibbon  and  Curran. 

Defence  of  Rowan. 

Encounter  with  a  Fish- 
woman. 

Curran  and  Lord  Erskine 

Duel  with  Bully  Eg  an. 

Massy  versus  Headfort. 


The  Serenading  Lover. 

Employment  of  Infor- 
mers. 

Curran  and  the  Farmer. 

Curran  and  the  Judge. 

Ouarrel  with  Fitzgibbon. 

High  Authority. 

Red  Tape — Curran  and 
the  Mastiff. 


FATHER    O'LEARY. 


His  Birth. 

Controversy  with  an  Infi- 
del. 

Interview  with  Dr.  Mann 

Controversy  with  John 
Wesley. 

Meeting  of  O'Leary  and 
U'eslej-. 

Dr.  O'Leary  and  Father 
Callanan. 

O'Leary  and  the  Qua- 
kers. 

His  Reception  by  the 
\'oliinteers. 


1   O'Learv        and  Tohn 

I       O'Ke'efe. 

I   O'Leary    and    the    Irish 

Parliament. 
I   His  Interview  with  Dan    ' 

iel  Danser. 
I  A  Fop.  , 

I    His  Person — CaDtain   , 

I       Rock.  *  ! 

}   Lots  Drawn  to  Have  Him  j 
I       at  Dinner. 

!   Reply  to  Charge  of  Ke-  j 
I       cantation.  i 

'   O'Leary  and  the  Rector.   | 
Ladv  Morgan. 


.\     Batch   of    lntere5<ting 

Anecdotes. 
A  Dog's  Religion. 
Howard  and   Mr.  Henry 

Shears. 
His  Habits  of  Study. 
Edmund  Burke. 
His  Charity. 

O'Leary   versus  Curran. 
His    Triumph    over    Dr. 

Johnson. 
A  iVolle  Prosequi. 
The  Prince  of  Wales. 
The  closing  Scenes  of  his 
Life. 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL. 


Darby  Moran. 

A    Dead    Man   with   Life 

in  him. 
A  Voung  Judge  Done. 
0'"Connelland  a  Snarling 

Attorney. 
His       Encounter        with 

Biddy  Moriarty. 
O'Connell  and  a  Bilking 

Client. 
Sow-West  aryi  the  Wigs. 
Election  and  R'v  Dinners 


Scene  at  Killiney. 
An  Insolent  judge. 
A  Witness  Cajoled. 
His    Duel   with    Captain 

D'Esterre. 
O'Connell  and  Secretary 

Goulburn. 
Entrapping  a  Witness. 
Gaining  over  a  Jury. 
Haddy  and  the  Parson. 
A  Martial  Judge. 


Retentive  Memory. 

A   Political   Hurrah   at   a 

Funeral. 
Refusal  of  Office. 
A  Mistaken  Frenchman. 
Epistolary  Bores. 
Sir  R.  Peel's  Opinion  of 

O'Connell 
Anecdote  of  O'Conneil's 

Uncle. 
A  Slight  Rebuke. 


WHAT  THE  PRESS  SAYS. 

'•  Irish  Wit  and  Humor"  is  the  title  of  an  agreeable  and  judicious  selection  of 
anecdotes,  taken  from  the  lives  of  the  illustrious  Irish  'V\'its.  Swift,  Curran. 
(^'Leary.  and  O'Connell.  Dean  Swift  and  Father  O'Leary  have  the  largest 
amount  of  space  allowed  to  their  sayings  and  doings.  It  gives  its  readers  an  excel- 
lent idea  of  the  style  of  the  Dean's  wit  and  humor. — Catholic  Rcz'ie-u'. 

•' These  anecdotes  furnish  a  very  excellent  illustration  of  Irish  witand  humor." 
— Mctrof>olitan   Record. 

i2mo,  240  pages.  Green  Cloth,  Bevelled.  Ciold  and  Ink  Designs,  with  Portrait 
of  Swift.     Price   One   Dollar. 


J.  A.  McGEE,  Publisher, 

7   Barclay  Street,  New  York. 


u 


Marshal   McMahox, 


LIYES 


OP 


lEISHMEN'S    S0N8 


AND 


THEIfi  DESCENDANTS. 


BY 


COLONEL    JAMES    E.   McGEE, 

AUTHOR  OF   "IRISH  SOLDIERS  IN  EVERT  LAND." 


NEW  YORK: 

J.  A.  McGEE,  Publisher, 
7  Barclay  St. 

1874. 


Entered,  according-  to  Act  of  Congress,  April,  1874, 

By  James  E.  McGee, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C» 


Printed  and  Stereotyped  at  the  New  York  Catholic  Protectory, 
West  Chester,  New  York. 


TO  MY  YOUXG  FELLOW-CITIZENS 

BORN  TS  AMERICA 

OF 

IRISH   DESCENT   OR   PARENTAGE, 

HOPING,   WHILE   THET    WILL    PROVE    LOYAL    TO    THE 

LAND   or   THEIR   BIRTH, 

THEY  WILL  NOT   BE  FOUND  WANTING  IN  LOVE   AND 

ESTEEM   FOR   THAT   OF   THEIR 

FOREFATHERS, 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


» J  -A  ;«3  '± 


PREFACE, 


In  selecting  the  lives  of  five  great  men  ae  the  sub- 
jects of  this  volume,  I  had  the  following  objects  in  view : 

I.  I  thought  I  perceived  in  their  histories  the  devel- 
opment of  as  many  distinct  types  of  Irish  character, 
widely  differing  one  from  the  other,  but  all  exhibiting 
in  a  remarkable  degree,  the  national,  latent  genius  of 
our  race,  modified  by  time,  place,  and  circumstances. 
McMahon,  Duke  of  Magenta  and  President  of  the  French 
Republic,  has  long  seemed  to  me  the  heau  ideal  of  a 
Franco-Irish  soldier  j  brave,  austere,  and  reserved,  lov- 
ing arms  as  a  profession  and  his  native  country  with  his 
whole  heart,  yet  capable  of  yielding  at  times  to  the 
softer  impulses  of  our  nature,  or  of  leading  a  desperate 
charge,  amid  dead  and  dying,  with  undisturbed  compo- 
sure. Andi'ew  Jackson,  seventh  President  of  our  Re- 
public, I  regard  as  a  thorough  North-of-Ireland  Gael ; 
rugged,  inflexible,  and  thoroughly  tenacious  in  purpose, 
with  a  mind  that  arrived  at  just  conclusions  more  by 
intuition  than  through  reflection,  and  whose  will  was  so 
unswemng  that  he  easily  gained  the  mastery  over  more 
cultivated,  but  less  firm  dispositions.  The  late  Cardinal 
Wiseman  was  the  lineal  descendant,  in  the  spiritual 


VI  PREFACE. 

order,  of  those  dev^oted  and  learned  men,  wlio  in  tlie  in- 
fancy of  the  Church  in  the  West,  gave  to  Ireland  the 
proud  title  of  the  Isle  of  Scholars  and  Saints,  and  whose 
missionary  labors  were  circumscribed  only  by  the  bounds 
of  the  then  known  world.  His  Spanish  birth  and  Roman 
education  may  have  somewhat  tempered  and  refined 
his  natural  idiosyncrasies,  but,  in  almost  all  his  actions 
may  be  traced  that  ardent  love  for  learning,  and  burn- 
ing zeal  in  the  propagation  of  the  faith,  which  character- 
ized the  disciples  of  St.  Patrick  and  their  successors. 
General  Sheridan  is  the  modern  Irish  soldier,  very 
little  changed  by  his  American  associations,  and  might, 
if  he  had  been  born  a  couple  of  centuries  ago,  have 
ridden  beside  Owen  Roe,  or  charged  with  Patrick 
Sarsfield.  Fieldmarshal  O'Donnell,  on  the  other  hand, 
mav  l^e  res^arded  as  amono^  the  last  of  a  race  of  men 
who  in  former  times  swayed  much  more  by  their  physi- 
cal, mental,  and  social  qualities  than  by  any  hereditary 
right.  Ai'dently  devoted  to  the  profession  of  arms,  prince- 
ly in  generosity  and  lavish  in  expenditure,  of  unsullied 
personal  honor,  they  looked  upon  their  swords  as  the 
insignia  of  the  highest  nobility,  and  the  field  of  battle 
as  the  tme  stage  for  the  exhibition  of  all  their  many  vir- 
tues. They  have  nearly  all  passed  away,  but  though  the 
world  may  have  grown  wiser  and  less  romantic,  it  cannot 
recall  their  chivalrous  deeds  without  a  sympathetic  sigh. 


PREFACE.  VU 

II.  Of  late  years  it  has  become  the  fashion  with  a 
certain  class  of  political  speakers,  and  editors  of  obscure 
newspapers,  who,  wishing  to  trade  on  the  generous  in- 
stincts of  the  Irish  immigrants  in  America,  think  to  flatter 
their  vanity  by  claiming  as  Irish  every  man  of  Gaelic 
nomenclature,  regardless  of  where  he  was  born  or  what 
have  been  his  antecedents.  This  is  neither  correct  nor 
complimentary  to  those  to  whom  such  assertions  are 
addressed,  and,  if  honestly  entertained,  simply  defeats 
the  ends  sought  to  be  attained.  McMahon,  for  example, 
is  not  an  Irishman  but  a  Frenchman,  as  Jackson  was 
a  true  type  of  an  American  democrat,  who  loved  Ten- 
nessee much  better  than  he  did  Antrim.  Those  who 
claim  too  much  will  not  even  be  accorded  what  is  their 
due.  I  was  anxious,  therefore,  in  part  at  least,  to  correct 
this  growing  and,  to  me,  humiliating  evil,  by  placing 
before  the  public  a  few  great  names,  not  as  Irishmen, 
but  as  the  inheritors  of  the  brain  and  muscle  of  that 
undying  race  from  which  so  many  distinguished  men 
have  sprung,  developed  and  trained  by  foreign  asso- 
ciations, as  well  as  by  the  accident  of  birth. 

III.  I  was  also  desirous  to  show  to  those  who,  not 
caring  to  look  under  the  surface  of  society,  or  to  trace 
the  connection  between  cause  and  effect,  frequently  ask 
why  it  is  that  Ireland  does  not  now  produce  more  great 
thinkers,  scientific  soldiers,  and  astute  statesmen,  that 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

tte  reason  is  the  expatriation  of  tlmt  class  of  her  popu- 
lation which  produces  the  clearest  minds  and  the  most 
acute  understandings.  This  emigration  found  an  outlet 
on  the  continent  of  Europe  in  the  last  century,  and  left 
as  its  descendants  such  men  as  the  Duke  of  Magenta 
and  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westminster.  Later, 
the  tide  was  turned  to  the  Western  World,  and,  disap- 
pearing gradually  in  the  course  of  nature,  left  behind  as 
its  representatives  such  men  as  Jackson  and  Sheridan. 
Had  Ireland  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  an  independent, 
paternal  government,  the  greater  part  of  her  children 
would  have  still  nestled  lovingly  in  her  bosom,  and  the 
valor,  learning,  and  genius  which  have  been  lavished 
by  her  sons  and  thek  offspring  in  every  part  of  the 
globe,  would  have  been  cherished  and  nurtured  at  home. 
IV.  If  I  have  succeeded  in  effecting  any  of  these 
objects,  or  even  in  suggesting  their  accomplishment  to 
others,  I  shall  be  well  satisfied,  trusting  that  as  time 
passes  and  correct  ideas  of  contemporary  characters  be- 
come more  general,  the  mental  gifts  and  meritorious 
actions  of  the  descendants  of  the  Irish  in  this,  as  in 
other  lands,  will  be  found  as  conspicuous  and  praise- 
worthy as  those   of  any  other  race  now  represented 

among  us. 

J.  E.  M. 

New  York,  January,  1874. 


CONTENTS, 


McMahon,  Duke  of  Magenta,  President  of  France     11 

Andrew  Jackson,  Seventh  President  of  the  United 

States 67 

Cardinal  Nicholas  Wiseman         ....  155 

Lieutenant-General  Philip  H.  Sheridan   .         .  213 

FlELDMARSHAL      LEOPOLD      O'DONNELL,       CoUnt      of 

Lucena  and  Duke  of  Tetuan       ....  362 


lEISHMEFS  SONS. 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA, 

PRESIDENT    OF   FRANCE. 

As  we  write,  one  of  the  foremost  men 
in  Christendom,  as  far  certainly  as  reputa- 
tion, abiHties,  position,  and  all  that  con- 
stitutes mundane  greatness  are  concerned, 
is  undoubtedly  Maria  Esme  Patrick  Mau- 
rice McMahon,  the  highest  ranking  officer 
in  the  French  army,  and,  for  the  time  being 
at  least,  president  of,  the  French  Eepublic. 

This  remarkable  man  was  born  in  the 
old  family  mansion  at  Sully,  France,  on 
the  13th  day  of  June,  1808.  Though  not 
of  immediate  Irish  parentage,  there  is  no 
possible  doubt  that  paternally  he  is  the 
dhect  descendant  of  a  very  ancient  and 
noble  Irish  family,  and  can  trace  his  pedi- 


12  irishmen's  sons. 

gree  in  a  direct  line  througli  successive 
generations  for  at  least  five  hundred  years. 
Patrick  McMahon,  a  more  modern  ancestor, 
was  an  officer  in  King  James  II's  army  and 
a  native  of  Torrodile,  county  Limerick,  Ire- 
land. Upon  tlie  defeat  of  that  unfortunate 
monarch's  forces  he  left  the  country  and, 
with  his  wife  Margaret,  nee  O'Sullivan,  and 
his  children,-  emigrated  to  France  and  took 
service  under  Louis  XIV.  One  of  his  sons, 
John  McMahon,  also  a  soldier,  was  created 
first  Count  d'Equilly  for  distinguished  and 
meritorious  conduct.  Though  brought  up 
in  France,  D'Equilly  seems  not  only  to 
have  been  a  loyal  French  subject  but  an 
ardent  Irishman  proud  of  his  name  and 
race,  and  not  ashamed  of  his  native  land  in 
the  hour  of  her  humiliation.  We  find  from 
an  examination  of  the  archives  of  Birming- 
ham Tower,  Dublin,  that  on  September 
28th,  1749,  he  applied  by  letter  to  the 
authorities  of  that  day  to  have  all  histori- 
cal and  genealogical  papers  and  records 
connected  with  the  history  of  his  family, 
collected,  collated,  and  recorded,  and  offi- 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     13 

cial  copies  of  the  same  forwarded  to  him, 
'^so  that  his  children  and  his  posterity  in 
France  might  know  that  they  were  of 
Irish  descent."  As  he  accompanied  this 
request  with  a  hberal  fee,  it  is  unnecessary 
to  say  it  was  granted.  This  patriotic 
Count  was  the  grandfather  of  the  present 
Marshal,  Duke  and  President. 

But  Patrick  McMahon  seems  to  have  had 
other  childi'en,  for  in  1760,  a  petition  was 
sent  to  Louis  XV,  from  Captain  Maurice 
McMahon,  a  Knight  of  Malta,  on  behalf  of 
himself  and  of  his  brothers.  Count  d'Equilly 
and  the  Bishop  of  Killaloe,  setting  forth, 
among  other  matters,  that  "  they  draw  their 
maternal  origin  from  the  lords  of  Clondir- 
ola,  in  Ireland,  who  were  descended  from 
the  lords  and  princes  of  Clare,  who  were 
issue  of  the  ancient  monarchs  of  Ireland. 
Their  attachment  to  the  Catholic  religion 
and  their  legitimate  prince  have  deprived 
them  of  theii'  possessions  and  titles,  and 
they  find  it  impossible  to  establish  their 
noble  and  ancient  extraction  by  literal 
proofs.     But  they  have  proofs  and  testi- 


14  irishmen's  sons. 

monials  beyond  all  suspicion,  and  admitted 
by  the  tribunals,  which  establish  their  nobil- 
ity, not  only  from  the  year  1400,  but  even 
up  to  Brian  Boru,  monarch  of  Ireland  in  the 
beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  that 
they  are  of  the  same  family  as  the  Earls  of 
Thomond,  whom  the  king  has  honored  with 
his  favor."  We  are  not  informed  what  was 
the  effect  of  this  appeal,  and  we  have  no 
doubt  of  its  veracity,  but  from  the  character 
of  the  eifete  sovereign  who  then  disgraced 
the  throne  of  France,  we  conclude  that  it 
was  thrown  aside  and  forgotten. 

The  number  of-  the  D'Equilly  family  we 
have  no  means  of  ascertaining,  but  it  is 
certain  that  he  gave  at  least  two  sons  to 
the  service  of  his  adopted  country :  one, 
the  second  count  of  the  name,  the  father 
of  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  who  rose  to 
the  rank  of  Lieutenant- Greneral,  and  Com- 
mander of  the  Eoyal  and  Military  Order 
of  St.  Louis,  and  the  other  a  younger 
brother  who  attained  the  position  of  Major- 
General. 

With  such  family  antecedents  and  with 


McMAHON,    DUKE    OF   MAGENTA.  15 

the  hereditary  military  genius  of  his  race, 
it  required  little  foresight  to  prognosticate 
a  brilliant  future  for  the  cherished  scion 
of  the  house  of  McMahon-D'Equilly.  His 
father  certainly,  with  natm-al  parental  af- 
fection, appears  to  have  indulged  in  such 
fond  anticipations,  and  to  have  paid  the 
most  scrupulous  attention  to  his  education, 
physical,  mental,  and  moral.  His  first 
studies  were  made  under  the  supervision 
of  his  parents  at  a  quiet  preparatory  school 
in  Autun,  which  he  left  for  the  Military 
Academy  of  St.  Cyr  in  November,  1825, 
being  then  in  his  seventeenth  year. 

It  was  previous  to  this  event  that  he  ac- 
quired a  knowledge  of  those  cardinal  prin- 
ciples which  were  destined  to  form  a 
character  so  remarkable,  and  to  govern 
his  entire  life.  Abstinence,  self-denial  of 
all  deleterious  pleasures,  and  vigorous 
exercise,  built  up  a  constitution  that  seems 
to  have  defied  the  ravages  of  climate,  ex- 
posm-e,  and  time  itself ;  quiet  communings 
with  his  father  beneath  the  shade  of  his 
ancestral  forests  gave  to  his    disposition   a 


16  irishmen's  sons. 

serious,  tliough  by  no  means  sombre  color- 
ing, while  that  deep  reverence  for  religion, 
that  love  for  the  faith  of  his  fathers,  which 
have  ever  characterized  him,  were  nurtm^ed 
and  matured  at  his  mother's  knee,  and  in 
the  society  of  his  friends  and  relatives. 

St.  Cyr,  it  is  generally  known,  is  not 
only  one  of  the  best  military  colleges  in 
existence,  but  it  is,  and  was,  particularly 
after  the  restoration  of  Louis  XVIII,  one 
of  the  most  aristocratic  and  sociably  most 
exclusive.  Thither  what  has  been  called 
the  best  blood  of  France,  the  descendants 
of  the  Montmorencis,  Maurepas,  Cavaign- 
acs,  De  Broglies,  and  even  the  princes  of 
the  royal  blood,  were  sent  to  learn  the 
rudiments  of  that  art,  in  the  practice  of 
which  so  many  of  them  have  shed  such  lustre 
on  their  order  and  on  the  gallant  nation 
they  in  part  represented. 

In  less  than  two  years  young  McMahon 
completed  his  com'se,  to  the  entire  satisfac- 
tion of  his  professors,  and  left  St.  Cyr  with 
an  excellent  reputation  as  a  student  and 
the  rank  of  sous-lieutenant  eleve^  having  been 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     17 

assigned  to  the  4th  Huzzars,  in  which  an 
older  brother  was  abeady  captain. 

In  1830,  however,  upon  the  resignation 
of  the  latter,  the  young  soldier,  anxious 
to  experience  the  excitement  and  danger 
of  actual  warfare,  of  which  he  had  been 
only  enjoying  ^'the  pomp,  pride,  and  cir- 
cumstance," exchanged  into  the  20th  regi- 
ment and  embarked  with  it  for  Algeria, 
then  the  theatre  of  hazardous  and  continu- 
ous conflict.  Still  we  may  presume  that 
the  years  of  peace  were  not  misspent  by 
the  future  Fieldmarshal,  for  on  emerging 
from  St.  Cyr  and  his  entry  into  the  ser- 
vice, he  joined  the  Staff  School  of  Instruc- 
tion, in  which  all  the  time  that  could  be 
spared  from  liis  routine  duties  was  em- 
ployed. Scott,  in  his  ^'  Military  Dictionary," 
lays  it  down  as  an  axiom  that  the  staff 
officer  should  at  least  know  as  much  as  the 
General  whom  he  serves.  Artillery  prac- 
tice, cavalry  and  infantry  tactics,  and 
strategy  are  the  least  of  his  attainments; 
familiarity  with  permanent  and  field  forti- 
fications ;    topographical   engineering   and 


18  irishmen's  sons. 

surveying;  di-awing,  designing,  and  map- 
making;  means  of  supply  and  transpor- 
tation, and  the  knowledge  of  a  hundred 
other  details  affecting  the  organization, 
movement,  equipment,  and  disposition  of 
troops  in  quarters  or  on  the  march,  form 
the  most  essential  qualifications  of  an 
accomplished  aide. 

Thi'ee  years  diligently  spent  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  these  multitudinous  bra^nches 
of  the  military  profession  must  have  pro- 
duced a  marked  effect  on  a  mind  so 
peculiarly  constituted  as  that  of  the  young 
sons-lieutenant,  for  even  at  that  early  age 
he  was  preeminent  for  his  sedate  habits, 
unostentatious  industry,  and  application, 
as  well  as  for  his  extraordinary  capacity 
for  mastering  the  most  abstruse  scientific 
problems.  His  tastes  led  him  naturally 
toward  the  higher  branches,  such  as 
mathematics  and  astronomy,  the  study  of 
which  generally  has  a  tendency  to  give 
system  and  steadiness  to  the  reasoning  fac- 
ulties, as  well  as  to  elevate  the  mind  above 
the  little  affah-s  of  life;  while  his  innate 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     19 

pride  and  gravity  of  character  prevented 
liim  from  taking  part  in  the  frivohties  and 
dissipation  too  often  indulged  in  by  his 
junior  brother  officers. 

Thus,  after  five  years^  ti^aining  in  St. 
Cyr  and  the  Staff  School,  at  the  green  age 
of  twenty-two  we  find  the  young  Franco- 
Irish  soldier,  enthusiastic  though  self-con- 
tained, entering  on  his  career  of  danger 
and  glory,  thoroughly  versed  in  the  theory 
of  warfare,  and  only  anxious  to  submit  his 
school  knowledge  to  the  test  of  actual  ex- 
perience. On  his  arrival  in  Algeria  he 
was  detached  from  the  20th  and  placed  on 
the  staff  of  General  Achard,  then  command- 
ing the  French  forces  in  Africa.  As  orderly 
officer  to  that  commander  he  formed  a 
portion  of  his  personal  staff,  and  accompa- 
nied him  on  his  first  expedition  against  Me- 
deah.  On  this  his  ''  first  brush  "  he  greatly 
distinguished  himself,  it  is  said,  by  his 
coolness  and  intrepidity  in  bearing  de- 
spatches from  one  part  of  the  lines  to  an- 
other, under  the  fire  of  a  keen  and  skilful 
enemy,  always  on  the  aleii:  to  pick  off  their 


20  ieishmen's  sons. 

opponents  in  gross  or  in  detail.  Belidah  is 
mentioned  as  one  of  the  scenes  of  his 
gallantry,  when  the  future  stormer  of  the 
Malakoff,  being  alone,  was* closely  pui'sued 
by  a  body  of  Ai'abs,  who  shot  his  horse 
under  him  and  nearly  ended  his  military 
aspu-ations  forever. 

General  Achard  was  the  next  year  re- 
called and  sent  into  the  Low  Countries. 
He  took  with  him  his  favorite  staff-officer, 
who  is  mentioned  in  contemporaneous  re- 
ports as  having  exhibited  his  usual  bravery 
and  self-possession  at  the  siege  of  Antwerp 
in  1832,  dm'ing  the  Belgian  revolution. 
For  his  conduct  on  tliis  occasion  he  was 
promoted  to  a  captaincy  and  decorated 
with  the  insignia  of  the  Order  of  St.  Leo- 
pold. 

As  the  war  in  Africa  at  that  time  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  prosecuted  with 
any  degree  of  vigor,  or  to  have  presented 
many  opportunities  for  preferment  or  dis- 
tinction— the  soldier's  tvdn  guiding  stars — 
Captain  McMahon  did  not  return  to  Algeria 
till    1836,   when   affairs    seemed   about  to 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     21 

assume  a  more  earnest  and,  to  him,  a  more 
interesting  aspect.  He  was  at  once  at- 
tached to  the  staff  of  General  Damremont, 
and  in  the  desperate  assault  on  the  city  and 
fortifications  of  Constantino  was,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  conspicuous  for  his 
efficiency  and  daring.  This  time,  however, 
he  did  not  come  out  of  the  struggle  scath- 
less,  for  during  that  engagement  of  almost 
unparalleled  fierceness  between  the  instru- 
ments of  aggressive  civilization  and  the 
wild  children  of  the  desert,  who  strove  to 
defend  their  homes  and  families,  he  was 
badly  wounded  and  obliged  to  be  taken 
off  the  field.  Yet  his  sufferings  were,  in  his 
opinion,  more  than  amply  solaced  by  his 
being  appointed  an  officer  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor.  France,  whether  monarchical,  im- 
perialistic, or  republican,  always  knew  how 
to  reward  her  soldiers. 

Upon  recovering  from  his  injuries  and 
again  reporting  for  duty,  McMahon  was 
assigned  to  General  Changarnier's  staff, 
a  position  which  he  occupied  until  1840, 
when  a  wider  field  and  a  more  responsible 


22  irishmen's  sons. 

career  were  opened  to  him.  In  that  year 
the  CJiasseurs-a-jned^  or  as  they  were  some- 
times called  the  Chasseurs  d' Orleans ^  after 
their  organizer,  the  prince  of  that  name, 
were  raised  for  African  service,  and  the 
command  of  the  tenth  battalion  having 
been  tendered  to  McMahon,  it  was  accepted. 
Heretofore  he  had  acted  only  on  the  staff, 
endeavoring  by  practical  observation  and 
strict  obedience  to  learn  how  to  command. 
He  was  now,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two,  to 
have  an  independent  force — a  flying  col- 
umn as  it  were — and  a  miniatm-e  staff  of 
his  own. 

In  the  two  years  following,  at  the  head 
of  his  chasseurs  he  made  several  success- 
ful incursions  into  the  country  of  the 
Kabyles,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the 
decisive  campaign  which  eventuated  in  the 
complete  subjugation  of  the  Arab  tribes, 
and  the  capture  of  their  great  chief  Abd-el- 
Kader. 

His  promotion  now  became  rapid,  and 
must  have  been  highly  satisfactory  to  the 
distinguished  soldier  who;  as  a  sous-lieuten- 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     23 

ant  had,  more  than  a  decade  past,  evinced 
so  much  youthful  bravery  combined  with 
mature  deliberation  and  knowledge  of  his 
profession.  In  1842,  he  was  commissioned 
Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  2d  Foreign 
Legion,  next.  Colonel  of  the  41st  Infantry, 
and  finally,  in  1848,  Brigadier- Greneral. 
His  semi-civic  advancement  also  showed 
what  confidence  was  placed  in  his  pru- 
dence and  executive  abilities  by  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  day,  for  in  the  latter  yeai' 
we  find  him  Governor  of  Tiemeen,  and 
in  the  following,  his  jurisdiction  was  ex- 
tended over  the  provinces  of  Constantino 
and  Gran. 

But  greater  honors  awaited  him.  In 
July,  1852,  he  was  promoted  General  of 
Division,  and  while  yet  engaged  in  subduing 
the  Algerine  tribes  and  endeavoring  to  bring 
those  already  conquered  under  some  regular 
system  of  government,  the  Crimean  war, 
as  it  is  called,  broke  out  in  1854,  when  he 
was  summoned  to  France  to  take  part  in 
it.  McMahon  was  assigned  at  once  to  the 
command  of  the  Fu'st  corios  cTarmeej  and, 


24  irishmen's  sons. 

with  a  portion  of  the  Allied  fleet,  ordered  to 
the  Baltic,  the  intention  being  that,  after  the 
reduction  of  Cronstadt  by  the  naval  forces, 
a  landing"  of  the  troops  should  be  effected, 
and  by  thus  threatening  the  capital  to  make 
a  powerful  diversion  in  favor  of  the  southern 
movement.  The  attempt  failed.  Cronstadt 
was  found  so  strongly  fortified  as  to  be 
unassailable  ;  the  British  went  through  the 
forms  of  an  attack  and  retired,  and  the  whole 
project  was  abandoned.  In  consequence  of 
this,  McMahon's  sphere  of  action  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  still  famous  peninsula  of 
Chersonese,  so  renowned  in  ancient  military 
as  well  as  legendary  history. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  motives 
or  causes  which  led  to  that  war,  it  cannot 
w^ell  be  denied  that  the  Colossus  of  the 
North,  semi- civilized  though  it  was  and  is 
to  this  day,  but  more  decidedly  so  twenty 
years  ago,  displayed  in  its  struggle  with 
the  Western  powers,  immense  resom'ces, 
great  administrative  ability,  endurance, 
bravery,  and  even  genius.  Attacking 
Turkey  at  her  own  doors,  and  threatening 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     25 


England^s  Asiatic  possessions,  Russia  nec- 
essarily aroused  the  hostility  of  some  of  the 
most  powerful  and  martial  nations  of  south- 
western Europe,  who,  combining  theii^  mar- 
itime, military,  and  moneyed  resources 
against  her,  seemed  about,  by  one  decisive 
blow,  not  only  to  check  her  career  of 
conquest  but  to  destroy,  utterly  ruin,  and 
disintegrate  the  gigantic  but  ill-cemented 
mass  which  constitutes  the  Muscovite 
Empire.  Had  Austria  then  joined  the 
quadruple  alliance,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
such  a  comprehensive  scheme  would  have 
been  earned  out,  but  that  astute  power  held 
aloof,  preferring  to  see  her  rivals  engaged 
in  weaJ^ening  each  other ;  and  her  neutral- 
ity, as  may  be  seen  at  a  glance  at  the  map  of 
Europe,  left  Russia  vulnerable  only  on  two 
sides:  by  the  Baltic  and  the  Black  seas. 

The  approach  by  the  former,  however, 
was  beset  by  many  and  almost  insurmount- 
able difficulties.  Every  defensible  point 
was  strongly  fortified;  while  nature,  far 
mightier  than  man  in  her  works,  had  closed 
up  the  ocean  itself  for  more  than  six  months 


26  irishmen's  sons. 

in  the  3"ear  by  an  icy  barrier  more  impas- 
sable than  moat  or  castle  wall.  The  at- 
tempt, therefore,  in  this  direction  to  assail  a 
vital  part  of  the  empii-e,  if  even  seriously 
contemplated,  failed,  and  the  main  move- 
ment had  to  be  directed  against  the  south- 
ern extremity  of  the  Czar's  dominions,  the 
Crimea. 

Sebastopol,  the  principal  position  and  key 
to  the  peninsula,  was  at  that  time  and,  not- 
withstanding the  ravages  of  war,  continues 
to  be,  a  place  of  gi-eat  natural  strength. 
Its  harbor,  partly  the  work  of  art,  is  capa- 
cious and  deep,  and  susceptible  of  having 
its  approaches  strongly  defended  from  the 
surrounding  eminences.  Before  the  war,  its 
docks,  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  were  re- 
garded as  triumphs  of  engineering  skill,  and 
its  extensive  dockyards  were  capable  of 
turning  out  annually,  not  only  large  fleets 
of  merchandise,  but  of  supplying  the  govern- 
ment with  all  the  armed  ships  it  required  to 
carry  its  flag  into  every  part  in  the  Black  and 
Azof  seas.  Large  stores  of  ordnance,  small 
arms,  powder,  and  other  munitions  of  war 


27 

were  kept  continually  in  the  arsenals,  while 
a  garrison  of  more  than  ordinary  magnitude 
was  stationed  constantly  in  its  fortifications 
to  defend  the  position  and  keep  the  hetero- 
geneous population  in  awe  and  order. 

It  was  against  this  place,  at  once  a  fortress 
and  a  naval  rendezvous,  that  the  whole  force 
of  the  powers  that  had  declared  war  against 
Eussia  was  dnected.  England  provided  the 
largest  naval  armament  and  a  very  respect- 
able military  force,  the  greater  part  of  which 
was,  unfortunately,  composed  of  Irishmen, 
twenty  thousand  of  whom  embarked  from 
Dublin  for  the  intended  seat  of  war  early 
in  1854,  and  only  three  thousand  of  whom 
returned  after  two  years'  service.  France 
furnished  a  most  imposing  army  but  a 
smaller  fleet.  Italy,  or  rather  Sardinia,  sent 
twenty  thousand  land-forces,  while  Turkey's 
quota  consisted  principally  of  bands  of  ir- 
regular cavahy,  and  infantrj^  still  more  bar- 
barous, and  fanatical  scouts,  thieves,  and 
licentious  marauders.  Taken  altogether,  it 
was  a  mighty  and  varied  host, "and  had  one 
element  of  success  at  least,  a  spirit  of  national 


28  irishmen's  sons. 

rivalry.  At  tlie  outset,  the  commander- 
in-chief  was  Lord  Raglan,  but  his  successors 
were  all  Frenchmen.  Of  course,  during  the 
progress  of  the  war  each  country  kept  the 
depleted  ranks  of  its  armies  as  full  as  pos- 
sible by  recruiting  at  home,  but  as  we  are 
not  aware  that  any  reliable  returns  of  the 
grand  total  have  ever  been  published,  it  is 
impossible  to  say  with  accuracy  how  many 
men,  ships,  and  guns  were  operating  against 
the  enemy. 

On  the  side  of  Russia,  from  the  meagre 
accounts  received,  generally  through  hostile 
channels,  we  conclude  that  there  were  about 
two  hundred  thousand  men  of  all  arms,  and 
as  their  lines  of  communication  had  been 
cut  early  in  the  struggle  and  their  fleet 
sunk  and  desti'oyed  to  prevent  its  -capture, 
there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  any  con- 
siderable reinforcements  reached  them  dur- 
ing the  siege.  It  has  also  been  stated  upon 
apparently  good  authority,  that  before  the 
approach  of  Raglan  in  rear  of  the  city,  the 
fortifications'  on  that  side  were  very  weak, 
and  bore  no  comparison  whatever  to  those 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     29 

afterwards  erected  in  front  of  the  Allies 
under  the  intelligent  superintendence  of 
Totleben. 

The  first  serious  battle  between  the  con- 
tending armies  was  that  of  the  Alma, 
September  20,  1854,  which  was  gained  by 
the  Allies  under  command  of  Fieldmarshal 
Leroy  de  St.  Arnaud,  who  had  succeeded 
Lord  Raglan,  and  who  himself  in  a  few  days 
afterwards  gave  place  to  P^lissier.  General 
McMahon,  who  on  his  arrival  in  the  Crimea 
was  ordered  to  relieve  Canrobeii;  in  the 
command  of  the  first  division  of  the  second 
corps  of  the  French  contingent,  doubtless 
took  an  active  part  in  this  action.  Then 
followed  the  engagements  of  Balaclava  and 
Inkermann,  after  the  latter  of  which  the  Rus- 
sians withdrew  behind  their  newly- made 
fortifications,  and  sullenly  prepared  for  a 
regular  and  long  siege. 

This  lasted  through  the  terrible  winter  of 
1854-'55,  and  into  the  autumn  of  the  latter 
year,  all  the  hideous  features  of  an  invest- 
ment— famine,  pestilence,  and  death — ex- 
hibiting themselves  as  prominently  to  the 


30 

besiegers  as  to  the  beleaguered.  Of  the 
EngUsh  army  alone  ten  thousand  are  said  to 
have  di^d  from  want  or  exposm^e,  though  the 
French,  having  a  better  commissariat,  did 
not  suffer  so  severely  from  those  causes. 

At  length,  in  September,  1855,  it  was  re- 
solved to  make  a  general  attack  on  the  entire 
works,  the  principal  of  which  were  the  Mal- 
akoff  and  the  Redan,  the  Mamelon  Vert  hav- 
ing been  destroyed  some  time  previously. 
Of  the  two  remaining,  the  Malakoff,  it  is 
known,  was  immeasurably  the  strongest  and 
largest,  and  its  capture,  according  to  mil- 
itary courtesy,  was  assigned  by  the  French 
commander-in-chief  to  his  own  country- 
men, while  the  English  and  Italian  troops 
were  directed  against  the  minor  work.  To 
General  McMahon  was  intrusted  the  des- 
perate and  hazardous,  but,  to  the  true 
soldier,  the  highly  honorable  duty  of  lead- 
ing the  assault. 

About  noon  on  the  7th  of  September,  the 
Eussian  garrison  was  sm-prised  to  see,  during 
a  lull  in  the  firing,  a  mass  of  French  soldiers 
swarming  up  the  slope  in  theii'  front,  some  in 


31 

solid  column  of  attack,  and  others,  the  tirail- 
leurs and  zouaves,  scattered  over  the  entire 
surface  without  any  apparent  order.  The 
very  audacity  of  the  manoeuvre  for  awhile 
silenced  the  men  within  the  defences,  but 
their  inaction  was  momentary.  Every  gun 
that  could  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  assail- 
ants belched  forth  its  deadly  missives,  and 
volleys  from  ten  thousand  muskets  swelled 
the  awful  din.  Many  of  the  French  troops 
fell  at  the  first  fire,  but  their  movements 
had  been  so  well  designed  and  so  swiftly 
executed  that  before  a  second  or  thu'd  dis- 
charge could  be  given  they  were  across  the 
dikes,  over  the  chevaux-de-frisej  in  through 
the  embrasures  and  upon  the  ramparts. 
Then  ensued  a  desperate  hand-to-hand  en^ 
counter  in  the  trenches  seldom  equalled  in 
the  magnitude  of  the  number  engaged  or 
in  the  obstinacy  with  which  every  inch  of 
ground  was  disputed.  For  a  time  the  re- 
sult seemed  doubtful,  and  even  P^lissier, 
fearing  the  works  were  mined,  sent  word  to 
McMahon  that  it  was  best  to  retire.  His 
reply  was  characteristic :  J^y  suis  entrCj  et 


32  irishmen's  sons. 

fy  resterai.  Gradually  the  Russians  gave 
way  before  the  impetuosity  and  desperate 
gallantry  of  their  Gallic  foemen,  and  finally 
their  retreat  from  the  works,  at  first  stern 
and  orderly,  became  changed  into  a  precip- 
itate and  confused  rout.  Thus  was  the 
great  Malakofi"  won  and  the  city  of  Sebasto- 
pol  virtually  captured. 

But  while  this  terrible  drama  was  being 
enacted  on  one  part  of  the  field,  another,  of 
a  very  different  character,  was  presented  at 
no  great  distance.  The  English  and  their 
Italian  auxiliaries  had  recoiled  from  the  fire 
of  the  Redan,  and  lay  cowering  in  the  zig- 
zags, in  some  cases  refusing  to  obey  their 
officers  who,  to  do  them  all  justice,  were  anx- 
ious to  make  another  attempt  to  capture  the 
fort.  McMahon  saw  the  difficulty  at  once, 
and  promptly  turning  the  captured  guns  of 
the  Malakoff  on  its  sister  work,  so  over- 
awed its  defenders  that  under  cover  of  his 
fire  the  English  again  assaulted  and  entered 
the  trenches  with  little  trouble.  The  entire 
defences  being  now  in  possession  of  the 
Allies,  the  defeated  army,  under  cover  of  the 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     33 

night,  withdrew  in  good  order,  the  city- 
proper  surrendered,  and  the  war,  for  all 
practical  purposes,  ended. 

For  his  gallant  conduct  on  this  occasion 
General  McMahon  received  the  Grand  Cross 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor ;  he  had  already  at 
intervals  been  decorated  with  the  insignia 
of  the  inferior  grades,  with  the  political 
rank  of  Senator  of  France,  and,  what  he 
probably  most  valued,  the  highest  encomi- 
ums of  his  brother  officers  and  the  applause 
of  the  entire  nation.  It  is  a  strange  coin- 
cidence that  the  very  theatre  of  his  glory  in 
this  instance  should  have  been  in  the  coun- 
try which  more  than  a  century  previous 
had  been  won  for  Russia  by  the  compatriot 
and  fellow  soldier  of  his  grandfather,  Field- 
marshal  Lacy. 

The  treaty  of  Paris,  which  followed  soon 
after  the  fall  of  Sebastopol,  restored  peace 
to  Europe,  so  McMahon^s  services  were  again 
transferred  to  Algeria.  He  was  made  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  land  and  naval  forces 
of  that  province,  but,  though  constantly  en- 
gaged with  one  or  other  of  the  wild  tribes. 


34  IRISHMEN'S   SONS. 

of  that  irrepressible  region,  we  do  not  find 
any  incident  in  his  career  worth  recording 
till  the  Franco-Italian  war  of  1859  again 
brought  him  prominently  before  the  world 
and  crowned  him  with  new  laurels. 

Early  in  that  year  the  Emperor  Napoleon, 
in  conjunction  with  the  King  of  Sardinia, 
prepared  to  drive  Austria  from  her  posses- 
sions in  Northern  Italy,  and,  in  the  cant 
phrase  of  the  day,  to  proclaim  the  "  unifica- 
tion" of  the  Italian  peninsula.  In  the 
spring  he  accordingly  dejiarted  from  ad- 
miring and  enthusiastic  France  with  a 
large  and  splendidly  equipped  army,  in 
which  General  McMahon  commanded  the 
Second  Corps.  On  the  21st  of  May  the 
first  collision  between  the  contending  forces 
took  place  at  Montebello,  in  which  fifteen 
thousand  Austrians  were  defeated  by  the 
advance  guard  of  the  French.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  short,  sharp,  and  brilliant  campaign, 
and  a  succession  of  battles  the  description 
of  which  recalls  to  our  minds  the  lio'htninof- 
like  movements  of  the  first  Napoleon  in  his 
youthful  and  more  successful  days.     Pales- 


McMAHON,    DUKE    OF   MAGENTA.  35 

tro,  May  30 ;  Magenta,  June  4 ;  Malig- 
nano,  June  18 ;  Solferino,  June  24,  were 
a  series  of  victorious  encounters  with  an  ene- 
my, if  not  of  equal  numbers,  which  is  doubt- 
ful, certainly  not  inferior  in  skill,  bravery, 
and  knowledge  of  the  country.  In  two 
months  from  the  date  of  the  declaration  of 
war  the  treaty  of  Villafranca  was  signed,  and 
the  map  of  southern  Europe  materially 
changed.  While  Venetia  remained  to 
Austria,  Lombardy  was  annexed  to  Sardinia, 
and  soon  after  Nice  and  Savoy  became  an 
integral  portion  of  France. 

In  this  campaign,  so  dazzling  in  its  in- 
ception and  execution  and  so  pregnant  of 
future  results.  Napoleon  III  and  Victor 
Emmanuel  were  of  course  merely  the  nom- 
inal commanders,  P^lissier,  McMahon,  and 
other  distinguished  general  officers,  j)lanning 
and  carrying  out  to  ultimate  triumph  all  the 
strategic  and  tactical  movements  of  the  allied 
armies.  The  latter's  first  great  achieve- 
ment on  Italian  soil  took  place  on  the  4th 
of  June.  On  that  day  the  main  body  of  the 
Franco-Itahan  army,  under  the  immediate 


36  irishmen's  sons. 

command  of  the  Emperor,  attacked  the 
Austrians,  then  strongly  entrenched  around 
the  village  and  bridge  of  Magenta.  The 
numbers  on  either  side  were  about  equal, 
from  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  to  one 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand.  The  strug- 
gle was  long  and  obstinate,  and  at  one  time 
dire  defeat  stared  the  Allies  in  the  face, 
when  suddenly  a  French  force  appeared  on 
the  left,  marching  hastily  to  the  support  of 
their  comrades.  As  the  grand  column  ap- 
proached the  scene  of  doubtful  combat  it  de- 
ployed in  mass,  and  sweeping  down  on  the 
astonished  Austrians,  scattered  them  in  all 
directions  and  changed  anticipated  victory 
into  utter  rout.  This  was  McMahon  s  com- 
mand, led  by  himself  in  person.  The  day 
previously  he  had  left  No  vara,  it  is  credibly 
said  without  orders,  and  rapidly  passing 
through  Tm'bigo  and  Buffalora,  arrived  on 
the  field  of  Magenta  just  in  time  to  change 
the  fortunes  of  the  day  and  save  the  honor 
of  the  French  arms. 

The  losses  on  this  occasion,  as  is  the  case 
in  accounts  of  most  battles,  have  never  been 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     37 

accm-ately  known,  but  those  of  the  Aiis- 
trians,  not  inckiding  prisoners,  are  generally- 
set  down  at  five  thousand,  and  of  the 
Allies  at  about  three-fifths  of  that  number. 

For  his  timely,  judicious,  and  unlooked- 
for  aid  the  French  emperor  was  deeply 
and  naturally  grateful,  and  expressed  to 
McMahon  on  the  field  orally  and  afterwards 
in  general  orders,  his  high  appreciation  of 
the  services  he  had  rendered  to  the  army 
and  to  France.  Subsequently  he  created 
him  Fieldmarshal  and  Duke  of  Magenta. 

On  the  24th  of  the  same  month  another 
and  a  more  decisive  victory  was  gained  at 
Solferino.  Three  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  men  are  said  to  have  been  engaged  on 
both  sides,  and  the  final  result  of  the  battle 
having  been  anticipated  as  decisive,  no 
matter  upon  which  side  victory  inclined, 
it  was  fought  with  remarkable  intrepidity 
and  determination.  On  this  occasion  the 
Austrians  took  the  offensive.  On  the 
morning  of  that  eventful  day,  although 
occupying  a  very  strong  position,  they 
did    not    wait    the    onset    of    the    Allies, 


38  irishmen's  sons. 

but,  crossing  the  river  Chiese,  fell  with 
such  fmy  on  the  Franco-Italians  as  to  drive 
back  both  wings,  the  left,  composed  of  the 
Sardinians  under  Victor  Emmanuel,  being 
the  first  to  give  way.  At  this  crisis  the  rout 
of  the  whole  army  seemed  imminent,  and 
doubtless  would  have  been  so  had  the  Aus- 
trians  restrained  theu*  ardor  and  had,  instead 
of  pushing  their  advantage  too  far  against 
the  broken  wings,  taken  the  French  centre 
on  both  flanks  and  so  crushed  it  between 
two  fires.  The  error  thus  committed  was 
speedily  taken  advantage  of  by  Pdlissier 
and  McMahon,  who,  concentrating  all  their 
forces,  attacked  the  Austrian  centre  and 
utterly  destroyed  it.  This  was  the  turning 
point  of  the  engagement.  The  Austrian  army 
hastily  retreated  over  the  Chiese  in  as  good 
order  as  could  be  expected,  leaving,  how- 
ever, in  the  hands  of  the  victors  thirty  guns, 
three  flags,  and  about  seven  thousand 
prisoners.  The  losses  on  both  sides  were 
heavy,  and  are  thus  stated :  Sardinia,  two 
hundred  and  sixteen  officers  and  four 
thousand  and  fifty-one   non-commissioned 


McMAHOX,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     39 

officers  and  privates  killed  or  wounded,  and 
twelve  hundred  and  twenty-eight  missing ; 
total,  five  thousand  five  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-five. France,  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
officers  (including  five  Generals  wounded, 
seven  colonels  and  six  lieutenant-colonels 
killed)  and  twelve  thousand  enlisted  men 
killed  or  wounded.  Austria,  seventeen  thou- 
sand officers  and  men  killed,  wounded,  or 
prisoners. 

McMahon's  services  on  this  day  were  of 
the  same  efficient  character  as  usual,  and, 
though  only  second  in  actual  command, 
contributed  materially  to  the  success  of  the 
Allies.  It  is  said,  on  reliable  authority,  that 
it  was  he  who  suo^g-ested  the  concentrated  at- 
tack  on  the  Austrian  centre  which  virtually 
decided  the  combat,  and  it  is  certain  that  in 
person  at  the  head  of  his  corps  he  stormed 
and  took  the  fortified  heights  which  stretch- 
ed from  Cavriano  to  Medolo,  the  enemy's 
strongest  position.  Those  hills,  bristling 
with  batteries  as  they  were,  had  heretofore 
been  considered  impregnable,  but  to  a 
soldier  who  could  take  a  Malakoif  before 


40  IRISHMENS    SONS. 

dinner  tliey  did  not  present  very  serious 
obstacles.  But  even  the  marslial's  bravery 
and  skill  at  this  battle  paled  before  his 
actions  at  Magenta.  His  praises  had  been 
abeady  sounded,  not  only  in  France  but 
throughout  Europe,  and  in  Italy  especially 
the  mention  of  his  name  evoked  the  warmest 
praise  and  the  wildest  enthusiasm. 

The  treaty  of  Yillafranca,  as  we  have 
seen,  followed  speedily  on  the  victory  of  Sol- 
ferino ;  peace  once  more  spread  her  dove- 
like wings  over  the  nations  of  Em^ope,  and 
the  conquerors  retm^ned  home  to  receive 
the  congratulations  of  their  countrymen 
and  to  wear  their  well-won  honors,  some  in 
quietude  and  retirement,  others  in  the  public 
service.  Of  the  latter  was  the  Duke  of 
Magenta,  who  seems  never  to  have  tired  of 
devoting  his  genius,  large  experience,  and 
high  character  to  the  pubHc  good.  When  the 
present  Emperor  of  Germany  was  crowned 
King  of  Prussia  in  1861,  he  was  deputed 
by  Kapoleon  as  special  envoy  to  represent 
France  at  BerHn,  a  duty  which  he  per- 
formed to  the  great  satisfaction  and  grati- 


McMAHON,    DUKE    OF   MAGENTA.  41 

fication  of  both  coui'ts.  Shortly  after  he  re- 
lieved Canrobert  in  the  command  of  the 
Third  Corps,  and  in  1864  we  again  find  him 
in  Algeria  as  Governor-Greneral,  a  position 
he  soon  after  resigned  and  again  returned 
to  France. 

We  now  come  to  an  epoch  in  the  gallant 
marshal's  life  which  belongs  more  to  the  do- 
main of  contemporary  history  than  to  that  of 
biography.  Hitherto  we  have  followed  him 
step  by  step  in  the  paths  of  undimmed  glory 
and  uninterrupted  success.  We  have  found 
the  untitled  young  sous-lieutenant  winning 
his  way  to  a  marshal's  baton,  the  Grand 
Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  a  senatorship, 
and  a  dukedom,  by  a  course  of  unswerving 
devotion  to  his  profession  and  his  country, 
ever  in  the  van  of  danger  and  always 
victorious.  We  have  now  to  behold  him, 
for  awhile,  outnumbered,  defeated,  and  if 
not  betrayed,  certainly  basely  deceived. 
The  history  of  the  late  Franco-German  war 
is  not  wi'itten,  nor  will  even  a  tittle  of  the 
secret  motives  and  designs  which  led  to  it, 
and  the  underhand  means  taken  to  con- 


42 


duct  it  to  its  disastrous  termination,  ever  be 
known.  Even  as  we  write  the  actual  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  French  force  is  on 
trial  for  his  life,  charged  with  incapacity, 
duplicity,  and  treason,  and  the  e\ddence  so 
far  produced  from  some  of  the  highest 
ranking  officers  in  his  late  command,  and 
from  ministers  of  state,  leaves  on  the  mind  a 
painful  impression  that  the  charges  are  not 
without  some  foundation. 

Still  there  are  some  general  facts  connect- 
ed with  the  Franco-German  war  wliich  have 
been  stated  mth  such  clearness,  and  con- 
iii'med  by  results  so  striking,  that  they  have 
received  general  credence.  It  is  now  known 
that  for  a  long  time,  two  or  three  years  at 
least,  Prussia  had  been  preparing  for  an 
aggressive  war  on  France  ;  that  her  armies 
liad  been  put  on  a  most  efficient  war  foot- 
ing, equipped  in  the  newest  style,  and  armed 
with  the  most  approved  weapons ;  that 
France,  up  to  the  gates  of  Paris,  and  even 
Paris  itself,  had  been  carefully  surveyed, 
and  everything  noted,  from  a  first-class  fort 
to  a  pigsty ;  and  that  everywhere  in  the 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     43 

threatened  sections  swarmed  German  spies, 
in  one  garb  or  another,  as  laborers,  clerks, 
and  even  subordinate  attaches  of  the  French 
bm-eanx.  The  pretence,  then,  of  Kaiser  Wil- 
liam, that  he  was  forced  into  a  war,  may 
be  considered  a  flimsy  diplomatic  false- 
hood, and  his  insult  to  the  French  ambassa- 
dor, which  nominally  led  to  the  beginning 
of  hostilities,  a  mere  piece  of  chicanery. 

France,  on  the  other  hand,  was  not 
blameless,  and  in  the  minds  of  many  who 
sincerely  sympathize  w^ith  her,  deserved 
the  abject  humiliation  inflicted  by  her  an- 
cient enemy.  Elated  beyond  bounds  by  the 
brilliant  successes  of  the  Italian  campaign, 
the  oflicers  of  the  French  armies,  as  a  gen- 
eral thing,  became  self-sufiicient,  careless, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  ignorant  of  their 
duties  and  disinclined  to  perform  them 
with  that  military  regularity  which  is  so 
essential  to  the  efliciency  of  all  armies. 
They  were  more  at  home  in  the  boudoir 
and  the  billiard  saloon  than  in  the  barrack 
or  on  the  drill  ground,  and  the  consequence 
was  that,  when  suddenly  called  into  active 


44  irishmen's  sons. 

service,  they  were  found  unprepared,  either 
to  endui'e  the  hardsliips  of  a  campaign  or 
^^  fight  their  men"  with  any  degree  of  skill, 
or,  what  is  the  result  only  of  skill  and 
courage  combined,  coolness  and  precision. 
Tlien  again  the  late  emperor,  Napoleon  III, 
allowed  himself  to  be  grossly  deceived  as 
to  the  number  of  available  men  and  muni- 
tions of  war  at  his  disposal,  by  a  set  of 
dishonest  quartermasters,  commissaries,  and 
others,  whose  duty  it  was  to  make  regular 
reports  of  the  condition  of  the  army,  but 
who,  by  swelling  its  numbers  on  paper  and 
reporting  the  purchase  of  militaiy  stores  that 
had  no  existence,  contrived  in  a  short  time 
to  enrich  themselves  at  the  expense  of  the 
nation.  That  the  French  emperor,  other- 
wise so  far-seeing  and  astute,  should  have 
allowed  himself  to  have  been  so  long  mis- 
led and  should  have  plunged  into  a  war 
without  accurate  knowledge  of  his  strength 
and  resom'ces,  was  not  only  astonishing  but 
little  shoi-t  of  criminal ;  and  though  he  in 
some  measure  personally  paid  the  penalty 
of  his  credulity,  it  will  be  a  long  time  before 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     45 

the  nation  he  once  governed  can  heal  the 
wounds  and  forget  the  shame  inflicted  on 
her  tln-ough  his  incapacity. 

While  France  was  vaporing  about  her 
^^  natural  boundary,  the  Rhine,"  and  doing 
nothing  but  boasting,  Prussia,  who  not  only 
wished  to  create  and  consolidate  a  German 
empire,  but  to  annex  Alsace  and  Lorraine, 
a  large  portion  of  the  population  of  which, 
of  German  descent  and  speaking  that 
language,  are  poetically  considered  part 
of  the  Fatherland.  Accordingly  the  dec- 
laration of  war  had  scarcely  been  promul- 
gated when  every  road  and  avenue  leading 
across  the  frontier  into  the  coveted  prov- 
inces was  thronged  with  armed  men,  guns, 
wagons,  and  ambulances.  So  quick  was  the 
movement,  so  complete  the  previous  prep- 
arations, that  it  may  well  be  said  that  be- 
fore Napoleon  set  out  from  Paris  the 
Germans  had  possession  of  nearly  every 
strategical  position  on  the  French  frontier, 
their  line  of  communication  with  their  base 
of  supplies  being  at  the  same  time  open  and 
unassailable. 


46       •  irishmen's  sons. 

The  Emperor  did  set  out  at  last  to  take 
command  of  his  armv,  but  it  would  have 
been  much  better  for  his  reputation  and  for 
France  if  he  had  remained  in  his  capital, 
and  allowed  his  veteran  officers  to  conduct 
the  war.  Experience  has  shown  that  mere 
nominal  commanders  are  potent  only  for 
evil.  The  army  was  in  two  divisions,  the 
first  under  Bazaine,  and  the  other  command- 
ed by  McMahon.  Tlie  headquarters  were 
fixed  at  Metz,  a  very  strongly  fortified  town, 
susceptible  of  still  further  defences.  On  the 
2d  of  July,  1871,  Marshal  McMahon,  with 
a  force  of  about  forty  thousand,  was  ordered 
in  an  easterly  and  forward  direction  to  make 
a  recognizance  in  force,  and  having  proceed- 
ed as  far  as  Woerth  he  suddenly  found  him- 
self confronted  by  the  enemy,  estimated  at 
one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  men,  under 
the  personal  supervision  of  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Prussia.  In  obeying  his  orders  he  neces- 
sarily became  separated  from  the  main  body 
of  the  army,  and  being  vastly  outnumbered 
and  partly  smTounded,  his  position  was  a 
desperate  one.     To  fight  against  such  odds 


DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     47 

was  liis  only  course,  and  tliis  he  did  without 
much  hesitation.  The  unequal  conflict  lasted 
nearly  all  day  and  the  havoc  on  both  sides 
was  proportionally  great.  The  Marshal  was 
in  every  part  of  the  field,  urging  on  and  en- 
couraging, in  person,  his  men,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  paid  particular  attention  to  his 
wings,  which  were  several  times  in  danger 
of  being  outflanked  by  their  more  numer- 
ous opponents.  Occasionally  the  French, 
by  the  precision  of  their  artillery  fire,  or  the 
imjDetuosity  of  their  infantry  charges,  would 
drive  back  the  Germans,  but  only  for  a 
moment,  for  the  depleted  ranks  were  soon 
reinforced,  and  the  fight  renewed.  In  vain 
McMahon,  his  staff-ofiicers  disabled  and  his 
horse  shot,  rode  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
conflict,  the  immensely  superior  force  of 
the  Crown  Prince  was  gradually  closing 
round  him  and  tln-eatened  to  cut  him  off 
from  Metz,  and  even  capture  his  entire  com- 
mand. Under  cover  of  night  he  took  the 
only  step  that  could  present  itself  to  a 
judicious  general.  He  retreated  on  Paris, 
with  the  intention  of  uniting  himself  with  the 


48 

large  body  of  troops  collected  there  under 
Trochii,  hoping  that  thus,  while  covering  the 
capital,  he  would  soon  be  strong  enough  to 
advance  and,  if  necessary,  form  a  junction 
with  Bazaine. 

The  war  department,  however,  in  their 
self-sufficient  wisdom  ordained  otherwise. 
Hearing  of  his  approach  they  sent  him  orders 
to  march  to  Metz  forthwith,  but  neglected 
to  send  him  a  man  or  a  gun  by  way  of  re- 
inforcing his  crippled  column.  As  was  his 
wont  he  obeyed  his  instructions  to  the  letter, 
though  no  one  knew  better  than  he  did  the 
futility  of  such  an  attempt.  Still  he  pressed 
on  and  might  possibly  have  reached  Bazaine 
but  for  the  unaccountable  conduct  of  that 
general  in  neglecting  to  act  on  McMahon's 
despatches  and  in  failing  to  communicate 
with  him,  all  of  which  has  formed  a  great 
portion  of  the  charges  preferred  against 
Bazaine.  On  endeavoring  to  reach  Metz, 
McMahon  met  the  Germans  at  Sedan  in 
overwhelming  numbers.  Disdaining  to  re- 
treat or  surrender  he  drew  up  his  small  force 
in  order  of  battle  and  awaited  the  enemy  ^s 


McMAHON,    DUKE    OF    MAGENTA.  49 

attack.  He  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  the 
Germans,  fearing  that  with  so  diminutive 
an  araiy  he  would  take  the  first  opportunity 
to  fall  back,  rushed  on  him  with  the  force 
of  an  avalanche.  Then  ensued  the  bloodiest 
fight  of  the  war.  The  French  would  not 
give  way  and,  imitating  the  example  of  their 
gallant  leader,  they  fought  with  desperate 
and  even  reckless  corn-age,  so  that  it  was 
only  on  the  fall  of  their  heroic  commander, 
wounded,  it  was  supposed  mortally,  that 
they  acknowledged  then-  defeat  and  saved 
themselves  from  utter  annihilation  by  an 
army  six  or  seven  times  their  strength. 

We  now  find  the  Marshal  wounded  and, 
for  the  first  time,  a  prisoner;  but  though 
treated  with  all  courtesy  and  assigned  by 
the  Emperor  William  a  residence  in  the 
pleasant  little  village  of  Pourru-aux-Bois, 
we  can  well  imagine  that  the  thought  of  the 
imbecility,  ignorance,  and  treachery  of  those 
who  had  wrought  such  woe  to  his  country 
must  have  pained  more  his  noble  spirit  than 
any  bodily  ailment  or  physical  suffering. 
Soon  after,  the  preliminaries  of  peace  be- 


50 

tween  tlie  belligerents  were  signed,  lie  was 
released  from  captivity,  and  reached  Paris 
in  the  middle  of  March,  1872. 

T\^iat  a  contrast  the  metropolis  presented 
to  the  city  he  had  left  in  the  plenitude  of 
its  splendor  and  gayety  only  eight  months 
previously  !  Its  emperor  a  dethroned  fugi- 
tive, its  beautiful  empress  fled  from  the 
very  people  who  had  formerly  almost  wor- 
shipped her,  and  the  imperial  court  scattered 
in  all  directions.  The  Prussians,  too,  had 
been  at  its  gates,  and  their  shot  had  toppled 
down  many  a  proud  turret  and  sphe,  and 
their  bombs  had  razed  more  than  one 
goodly  edifice.  And  now  an  enemy  more 
ferocious  than  the  troops  of  Alaric  or  Jengis 
Khan  was  about  to  take  possession  of  its 
palaces  and  magnificent  public  buildings 
and  monuments,  and  to  wreak  on  them,  by 
petroleum  and  fire,  an  impotent  fury  which 
even  the  blood  of  the  martp-ed  archbishop 
and  so  many  of  his  priests  had  not  satisfied. 

Usually,  particularly  in  countries  like 
France,  defeated  generals,  no  matter  how 
populai'  previously,  lose  caste  and  sink  in 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     51 

public    estimation;    and    to    all,    of    any 
prominence,  who  took  part  in  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war,  this  rule  was  strictly  applied, 
with  one  exception.     That  exception  was  in 
the  case  of  Marshal  McMahon.     His  skill  m 
manoeuvring  his  troops  and  his  gallantry  ni 
fighting  so  long  and  so  desperately  against 
an  enemy  much  his  superior  in  numbers, 
his  severe  wound  in  the  heat  of  action,  and 
his  subsequent  dignified  conduct  while   a 
prisoner,    endeared   him,   if    possible,   still 
more    to    the    army,   and    won    him    the 
imphcit    confidence   of    all   classes.      The 
Provisional  Assembly,  then  at  Bordeaux, 
therefore  very  wisely  appointed  him  to  the 
command  of  the  army  around   Paris,  and 
having  confeiTcd  on  him  plenary  powers, 
ordered  him  to  rescue  the  city  from  the 
hands  of  the  Communists.     He  accepted  the 
task  with  his  usual  willingness  to  serve  his 
country,  and  executed  it  with  his  wonted 
promptness.      Nor   was   it   an    easy   task. 
Street    fighting    comes    as    natural    to    a 
Parisian  ouvrier  or  gamin  as  his  petit  verre 
or  black  bread,  and  besides,  the  petrohsts 


52  irishmen's  sons. 

had  the  full  control  of  the  guns  and 
ammunition  reserved  after  the  sui-render  of 
the  city  to  the  Germans.  It  was  even  sus- 
pected that  they  had  many  sympathizers 
in  the  ranks  of  the  army  intended  for  their 
reduction. 

The  Marshal,  however,  was  not  to  be 
balked  by  such  opposition,  and  after  several 
days  of  hard  fighting,  driving  the  Com- 
munists from  post  to  post,  he  entered  the  city 
and  arrested  over  ten  thousand  of  the  more 
prominent  of  the  malcontents.  In  gratitude 
for  his  prompt  action  and  signal  victory,  the 
delighted  people  offered  him  the  dictator- 
ship, but  he  refused  it,  as  he  had  heretofore 
refused  other  offers  of  political  distinction. 
He  contented  himself  with  publishing  a 
proclamation,  couched  in  plain,  sti-aight- 
forward  language,  in  which  he  assured  the 
citizens  of  the  restoration  of  law  and  order, 
and  counselled  them  to  exercise  moderation, 
prudence,  and  forbearance.  He  then  as- 
sumed his  proper  position  as  commander-in- 
chief,  in  which  capacity  he  materially 
assisted,   by  his   military   experience   and 


McMAHON,    DUKE   OF   MAGENTA.  53 

moral  influence,  M.  Thiers  in  all  his  designs, 
particularly  in  consolidating  and  reorganiz- 
ing the  scattered  fragments  of  the  army. 

While  thus  employed,  the  24th  of  May, 
1873,  arrived,  a  day  which  will  be  long 
remembered  in  France  as  the  fii'st  instance 
in  her  history  of  a  change  of  rulers,  and  to 
a  certain  extent,  of  the  form  of  government, 
having  been  peaceably  effected.  The  Pro- 
visional Assembly,  which  was  humedly 
called  together  to  take  the  place  of  the  de- 
funct empire  and  treat  with  the  Germans, 
moved  from  Bordeaux  to  Versailles,  and 
virtually  voted  themselves  en  permanence, 
with  Thiers  at  their  head  as  a  sort  of  quasi 
president.  No  actual  form  of  government 
was  authoritatively  proclaimed,  for  no  party 
in  the  house,  repubhcan,  monarchist,  or 
imperialist,  could  command  a  majority 
favorable  to  its  particular  views.  The 
veteran  statesman  at  the  head  of  the  tem- 
porary government  did  indeed,  in  May, 
propose  the  formation  of  a  permanent 
republic,  but  after  an  animated  debate  he 
was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  three  hundi-ed 


54  IRISHMEN  S    SONS. 

and  sixty-two  against  thi-ee  hundi^ed  and 
forty-eight,  the  Napoleonist,  Legitimist, 
and  Orleanist  factions  having  coalesced 
against  him.  He  therefore  resigned  his 
portfoHo. 

Then  arose  the  question,  Who  should 
succeed  him  and  take  the  helm  I  None 
but  a  man  who  had  the  full  confidence  of 
the  people  and  the  army,  whose  impaiiiality 
was  above  suspicion,  and  whose  patriotism 
and  integrity  had  been  tried,  was  fit  to  be 
selected  at  such  an  eventful  crisis  and  to 
assume  the  responsibility  of  preserving  peace 
and  of  bringing  order  out  of  chaos.  That 
man  was  McMahon,  and  when  his  name  was 
mentioned  for  President  of  the  Republic  in 
the  Assembly  it  was  received  with  cheers 
from  all  sides,  and  he  was  forthwith  elected. 
On  being  formally  notified  of  the  high  honor 
conferred  on  him,  with  the  willingness  that 
ever  induced  him  to  set  aside  his  own  in- 
clinations when  the  good  of  his  country 
demanded  the  sacrifice,  he  accepted  the  re- 
sponsible trust  in  the  following  few,  but 
emphatic  words : 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     55 

Messieues  the  Representatiyes  :  I  obey  the  will 
of  the  Assembly,  the  depositary  of  the  national  sov- 
ereignty, in  accepting  the  charge  of  President  of  the 
Republic.  It  is  a  heavy  responsibility  imposed  upon 
my  patriotism;  but  -with  God's  help,  the  devotion  of 
om'  aimy,  which  will  be  the  army  of  law,  and  the  sup- 
port of  honest  men,  we  shall  continue  together  the 
work  of  the  lilieration  of  the  territory  and  the  re- 
establishment  of  moral  order  in  our  country;  we 
shall  maintain  internal  peace  and  those  principles  up- 
on which  society  can  repose.  In  saying  this  I  pledge 
you  my  word  of  honor  as  an  honest  man  and  a  sol- 
dier. 

Marshal  McMahox, 

Duke  of  Magenta. 

To  the  prefects  of  France  he  addressed, 
the  day  following,  a  brief  circular,  which 
read  thus : 

I  have  been  called,  through  the  confidence  of  the 
National  Assembly,  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic. 
No  immediate  change  wdll  be  made  in  the  existing  laws, 
regulations,  and  institutions.  I  rely  upon  material 
order,  and  I  count  upon  you,  upon  your  vigilance, 
and  upon  yaur  patriotic  assistance.  The  Ministry  will 
be  formed  to-day. 

The  President  of  the  Republic, 

Marshal  McMahoi?, 

Duke  of  Magenta. 


56  irishmen's  sons. 

Once  installed  in  his  new  office  McMalion 
set  to  work  to  complete  the  labors  so 
auspiciously  begun  by  Thiers,  and  to  heal 
as  quickly  as  possible  the  wounds  inflicted 
on  the  nation  during  the  war.  Instalments 
of  the  debt  to  Germany  were  regularly 
paid,  the  country  was  relieved  from  the 
presence  of  the  foreign  soldiery,  the  finances 
were  placed  on  a  more  secure  footing,  in- 
dustry was  promoted,  and  peace  and  good 
order  maintained.  When  the  Assembly 
adjourned,  the  President  promised  that 
during  the  recess  law  and  justice  should 
rule  paramount,  and  he  kept  his  word  faith- 
fully. France  was  never  so  satisfied  and 
orderly  as  in  the  year  of  grace  A.  d.  1873. 
On  the  reopening  of  the  Assembly,  Novem- 
ber 5th  in  that  year.  President  McMahon 
addressed  to  that  body  a  message  which  read 
as  follows  : 

When  you  adjourned  for  tlie  recess  I  told  you  that 
you  could  leave  Versailles  without  uneasiness,  and  that 
dming  your  absence  nothing  would  occur  to  disturb 
the  public  peace.  What  I  then  announced  has  been 
realized.  In  reassembling  to-day  you  find  France  at 
peace  J    the  complete  liberation  of  the  territory  is  an 


McMAHON,    DUKE    OF    MAGENTA.  57 

accomplished  fact  j  the  foreign  army  has  left  French 
soil;  and  our  troops  have  reentered  the  evacuated 
departments  amid  the  patriotic  joy  of  the  population. 

The  deliverance  has  been  effected  without  causing 
trouble  at  home  or  awakening  distress  abroad.  Europe 
is  assured  of  our  firm  resolution  to  maintain  peace, 
and  without  fear  sees  us  again  take  possession  of  our- 
selves. I  receive  from  all  powers  testimony  of  their 
desire  to  live  with  us  on  friendly  terms. 

At  home  public  order  has  been  firmly  maintained. 
A  vigilant  administration,  confided  to  the  function- 
aries of  different  political  origin,  but  all  devoted  to 
the  cause  of  order,  has  strictly  applied  existing  laws. 
The  administration  has  everywhere  acted  in  the  con- 
servative spirit  which  has  always  been  manifested  by 
the  great  majority  of  this  Assembly,  and  from  which, 
as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  shall  never  depart  so  long 
as  you  intrust  the  Government  to  me. 

It  is  true  that  material  tranquillity  has  not  prevented 
agitation  in  the  public  mind.  As  the  period  of  your 
reassembling  approached  party  strife  has  acquired  re- 
doubled'intensity.     This  was  to  be  expected. 

Among  the  matters  which  you  yourselves  indicated 
must  claim  your  attention  on  resuming  your  labors,  was 
the  examination  of  the  constitutional  laws  presented  by 
my  predecessor. 

This  necessarily  again  brings  forward  the  question, 
always  reserved  hitherto,  of  the  definitive  form  of 
Government.  It  is  not,  therefore,  surprising  that  this 
grave  problem  should   have   been  raised   beforehand 


58  irishmen's  soxs. 

by  various  parties,  ardently  discussed  by  eacb  in  tlie 
sense  agreeable  to  its  particular  views.  I  had  neither 
to  intervene  in  this  discussion,  nor  to  forestall  the 
decision  of  your  sovereign  authority.  My  Grovemment 
could  do  no  more  than  confine  the  discussion  within 
legal  limits,  and  insure,  under  any  hypothesis,  absolute 
respect  for  your  decision. 

Your  power  is  therefore  intact,  and  nothing  can  impede 
its  exercise.  Perhaps,  however,  you  may  think  that  the 
strong  feeling  produced  by  these  animated  discussions 
is  a  proof  that,  as  facts  now  stand,  and  with  the  present 
state  of  the  public  mind,  the  establishment  of  any  form 
of  government  whatever  which  should  indefinitely  bind 
the  future,  presents  serious  difficulties.  You  will, 
perhaps,  find  it  to  be  more  prudent  to  maintain  in 
present  institutions  a  character  enabling  the  Government 
to  surround  itself,  as  at  present,  with  all  the  friends  of 
order  without  distinction  of  party. 

If  you  think  so,  peraiit  him  whom  you  elected  to 
an  honor  which  he  did  not  seek,  to  tell  you  frankly  his 
opinion. 

To  give  public  peace  a  sure  guarantee,  the  present 
Government  lacks  two  essential  conditions,  of  which  you 
cannot  longer  leave  it  destitute  without  danger.  It 
has  neither  sufficient  vitality  nor  authority.  Whatever 
the  holder  of  power  may  be,  that  power  can  do  nothing 
durable  if  its  right  to  govern  is  daily  called  into 
question — if  it  has  not  before  it  the  guarantee  of  a 
sufficiently  long  existence  to  spare  the  country  the 
prospect   of    incessantly  recurring  agitation.     With  a 


McMAHON,    DUKE    OF    MAGENTA.  59 

power  that  might  be  changed  at  any  momentj  it  is 
possible  to  secure  peace  to-day,  but  not  safety  for  the 
moiTow. 

Every  great  undertaking  is  thus  rendered  impossible, 
and  industry  languishes.  France,  who  only  asks  to  be 
allowed  to  enter  upon  a  fresh  career,  is  arrested  in  her 
development.  In  relation  with  foreign  powers  her 
policy  cannot  acquire  that  consistent  and  persevering 
spirit  which  alone  succeeds  in  inspiring  confidence,  and 
maintains  or  restores  the  greatness  of  a  nation. 

Stability  is  wanting  in  the  present  Government,  and 
authority  also  often  fails  it.  It  is  not  sufficiently  armed 
by  the  laws  to  discourage  the  factions,  or  even  to  obtain 
obedience  from  its  own  agents.  The  public  press 
abandons  itself  with  impunitv  to  excesses  w^hich  would 
end  by  corrupting  the  public  mind  throughout  the 
country.  Municipalities  forget  that  they  are  organs  of 
law,  and  leave  the  central  authority  without  represen- 
tatives in  many  parts  of  the  teri'itory. 

You  will  consider  these  dangers,  and  will  give  to 
society  a  strong  and  durable  executive  power  which 
will  be  solicitous  for  its  future,  and  able  to  defend  it 
with  energy. 

This  message,  so  terse,  comprehensive, 
and  well-timed,  was  received  by  every 
member  of  the  Assembly,  if  we  except  a  few 
radicals  of  the  extreme  Left,  with  warm 
demonstrations  of  approval,  and  at  the 
instance  of  the  members  of  the  Right  and 


60  irishmen's  sons. 

Right-centre,  moderate  monarchists  and 
conservative  republicans,  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  consider  the  expediency  of 
prolonging  the  term  of  the  President, 
pending  the  formation  of  a  permanent 
constitution  and  the  adoption  of  a  definite 
form  of  government.  Some  of  McMahon's 
warmest  admirers  were  for  having  him 
retain  his  high  position  for  life,  others  for 
five  or  ten  years,  while  the  extremists 
were  utterly  opposed  to  the  whole  scheme. 
The  Marshal  himself  was  of  opinion  that 
seven  years  would  be  sufficient  for  his  term 
of  office,  both  as  a  probable  precedent 
and  as  affording  ample  time  for  him  to  re- 
store law  and  order  and  to  extricate  France 
from  the  confusion  and  difficulties  growing 
out  of  the  late  war.  Accordingly,  on  the 
7th  of  November,  1873,  one  of  the  ministers, 
the  Due  de  Broglie,  read  to  the  Assembly  a 
short  message  from  the  President,  in  which 
he  said  that  it  had  been  decided  as  best  for 
the  interests  of  the  countiy  to  ask  of  the 
Assembly  the  prolongation  of  the  powers  of 
the  present  Executive  for  seven  years.     He 


McMAHON,  DUKE  OF  MAGENTA.     61 

deemed  it  his  duty  to  indicate  the  guaran- 
tees without  which  it  would  be  improvident 
for  him  to  accept  the  task  of  governing  the 
country.  He  pointed  out  the  bad  effect 
of  a  postponement  of  the  beginning  of  the 
prolongation  until  after  the  constitutional 
bills  were  voted.  Such  a  course  would 
diminish  his  authority,  and  render  it  the 
more  uncertain.  He  expressed  the  strongest 
desire  for  a  speedy  discussion  of  the  con- 
stitutional bills.  If  his  term  were  prolonged, 
he  would  use  the  powers  granted  in  the 
defence  of  conservative  ideas,  which,  he  was 
convinced,  were  those  of  the  majority  of 
the  nation.  After  the  adjournment  Ministers 
De  Broglie,  Batbie,  and  Emoul  attended  a 
meeting  of  the  committee  on  prolongation, 
and  submitted  the  propositions  of  the  Presi- 
dent's message.  The  committee  consented 
to  the  term  of  seven  years,  but  refused  to 
yield  on  other  points. 

On  the  18th,  in  the  Assembly,  General 
Changamier  presented  the  motion  agi-eed 
upon  by  the  Eight  for  the  unconditional 
prolongation     of     President      McMahon's 


62  irishmen's  sons. 

powers.  A  long  and  stormy  debate  followed, 
but  without  a  division.  On  the  following 
day  the  debate  was  continued  on  Chan- 
garnier's  motion  for'  the  unconditional 
prolongation  of  the  President's  powers. 
M.  Rouher  moved  that  the  question  be 
referred  to  a  plebiscite,  and  advocated  his 
motion  in  a  speech  in  which  he  hinted  that 
Providence  might  in  time  restore  the  Bona- 
partes  to  power.  The  excitement  over  these 
remarks  temporarily  suspended  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  session.  A  vote  upon  M. 
Rouher's  motion  was  finally  taken,  and  it 
was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  499  to  88.  After 
an  adjournment,  the  Assembly,  as  if  con- 
scious of  the  gravity  of  the  task  before 
them,  held  a  night  session  which  lasted 
till  midnight.  M.  Deperge,  a  member  of 
the  Eight,  moved  an  amendment  to  the 
report  of  the  committee  on  prolongation, 
providing  that  President  McMahon's  powers 
be  prolonged  seven  ^^ears,  independently 
of  the  adoption  of  the  constitutional  bills. 
MM.  Laboulaye,  Grevy,  and  others,  oppos- 
ed the  amendment,  but  it  was  adopted  by  a 


McMAHON,    DUKE    OF    MAGENTA.  63 

majority  of  66.  A  motion  was  then  made 
on  the  part  of  the  Eight  that  a  Committee 
of  Thirty  be  appointed  to  report  on  the 
constitutional  bills.  This  was  adopted  by  a 
majority  of  68  votes. 

Notwithstanding  the  lateness  of  the  hour 
at  which  this  important  decision  was 
reached — one  of  the  most  important  events 
that  has  transpired  in  the  political  history 
of  the  country  for  many  years — the  news 
soon  spread  throughout  Paris,  and  caused 
general  rejoicing  among  all  classes,  always 
of  course  leaving  out  the  disorderly  and 
criminal.  Men  who  had  anything  at  stake, 
either  reputation,  property,  or  the  produc- 
tions of  their  individual  skill  and  manual 
labor,  breathed  more  freely,  and  congratu- 
lated each  other  that  tlie  Executive  of  the 
nation  was  in  the  hands  of  one  who  was  as 
wise  as  he  was  patriotic,  and  who,  while 
consulting  the  best  interests  of  France, 
would  sternly  repress  disorder  and  fanati- 
cism in  whatever  form  presented.  Im- 
mediately after  the  prolongation  of  his  term 
the  President  was  waited  on  by  the  mem- 


64  ieishmen's  sons. 

bers  of  his  cabinet,  who  went  through  the 
ceremony  of  tendenng  their  resignation, 
which  he  refused  to  accept,  and  requested 
them  to  retain  their  portfohos  and  assist 
him  in  the  transaction  of  pubHc  affairs  as 
formerly.  They  consented.  On  the  follow- 
ing day  the  members  of  the  diplomatic 
corps  waited  on  his  Excellency  and  pre- 
sented to  him  their  congratulations. 

Thus  while  the  people  as  a  body  are 
delighted  with  the  action  of  their  represent- 
atives, all  classes,  directly  or  indirectly 
interested  in  the  rejuvenation  of  the  Republic 
appear  thoroughly  satisfied.  The  republicans 
are  content;  the  sensible  royalists  prefer 
him  to  any  ruler  other  than  one  of  their 
many  special  candidates ;  the  imperialists 
have  confidence  in  his  moderation  and 
prudence,  while  the  army,  with  which  he  has 
always  been  a  great  favorite,  is  overjoyed  at 
the  civic  honors  conferred  on  the  hero  of 
Magenta.  Even  the  Comte  de  Chambord, 
"  Henry  V,  "  who  holds  himself  the  rightful 
heir  to  the  throne,  cannot  allude  to  the 
gallant  Marshal  but  in  terms  of  the  highest 


65 

praise.     In  a  late  letter  to  M.  Chesnelong, 
he  refers  to  McMahon  in  right  royal  par- 
lance, as  the  modern  Bayard  who  has  drawn 
his  sword  in  a  hundred  battles  for  France. 
Marshal  McMahon,  though  in  his  sixty- 
fifth  year,  is  still  remarkably  robust,  and  in 
the    complete    possession    of   his    physical 
and  mental  faculties.     In  figure  he  is  some- 
what above  the  middle  size,  meagre,  well 
knit,    and   erect,    though   bearing    evident 
marks  of  the  many  hardships  he  has  en- 
dured and  wounds  received.     His  features 
wear  the  impress  of  his  nationality ;  keen 
gray  eyes,  short  nose,  well-formed  mouth 
and  clnn,  and  cheek-bones  rather  angular 
and  prominent.     In  1853  he  was  married  to 
a  daughter  of  the  Due  de  Castres,  by  whom 
he  lias  had  children ;  one  of  whom,  a  son, 
having   lately   visited   Ireland,    was    very 
warmly  received  by  the  Nationalists  there. 
The  Duchess  of  Magenta  is  represented  as 
a  lady  still  in  the  bloom  and  health  of  happy 
middle-age,  and  remarkable  not  only  for 
her  graces  and  accomplishments  but  for  her 
gentle  and  unceasing  charity. 


SG  irishmen's  soxs. 

And  so  Tre  find  the  President  lias  not  only- 
been  successful  in  arms,  but  equally  fortu- 
nate in  matrimony  ;  and,  in  entering  on  his 
new  career  as  ci^dl  ruler  of  the  first  nation 
in  Europe  there  are  few  in  either  hemisphere 
who  do  not  wish  that  his  martial  and  social 
good  fortune  may  be  but  a  prelude  to  a 
more  brilliant  career  and  even  more  en- 
during fame.  No  matter  what  faults  France 
may  have  exhibited  in  the  past  or  what 
mistakes  she  has  undoubtedly  committed  in 
in  the  present,  she  is  still  the  best  loved  nation 
in  the  world.  We  speak  not  now  of  Ireland, 
with  whom  she  has  been  an  ancient  ally, 
nor  of  the  United  States,  wliose  friendship 
for  her  dates  from  our  birth  as  a  Republic, 
but  of  civilized  communities  generally,  who 
cannot  help  admiring  her  soldiers,  states- 
men, artists,  and  scholars ;  who  sympathize 
with  her  misfortunes,  and  are  made  glad  in 
her  elevation,  and  who  will  doubtless  find 
occasion  to  feel  proud  of  lier  new  govern- 
ment, when  guided  by  the  firm  hand  of  the 
grandson  of  an  Irish  exile,  and  a  devoted 
French  soldier  and  statesman. 


ANDREW  JACKSON, 

SEVENTH  PRESIDENT  OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

Of  the  large  number  of  Americans  dis- 
tinguished in  war  or  peace,  always  ex- 
cepting the  great  man  who  has  been  justly 
styled  Fater  Fatrice,  of  which  our  Repub- 
lic can  be  truly  proud,  one  of  the  foremost 
in  merit  and  decidedly  the  most  remarka- 
ble in  origin,  character,  and  originality,  was 
Andrew  Jackson,  seventh  President  of  the 
United  States.  Doubtless  we  have  had 
greater  generals,  successful  in  wider  spheres 
of  action,  and  statesmen  more  accomplished 
and  profound,  but  our  history  presents 
none  who  united  in  himself,  in  so  high  a 
degree,  those  great  and  varied,  though  so 
dissimilar,  qualities  which  are  indispensable 
for  the  formation  of  a  conqueror,  or  for  the 
civil  ruler  of  a  great  nation. 

Born  of  humble  Irish  emigi^ant  parents 
A.  D.  1767,  in  the  remote  Waxhaw  settle- 


68  irishmen's  sons. 

ments  of  North  Carolina,  ere  he  had  passed 
his  boyhood  he  was  left  an  orphan,  without 
a  relative  or  friend  in  that  wild  region, 
and,  as  we  can  well  suppose,  with  little 
worldly  goods.  Shortly  before  his  bu^th,  his 
father,  a  native  Camckfergus,  in  the  county 
of  Antrim,  died,  and  a  few  years  after,  his 
mother,  a  woman,  it  is  said,  of  singular 
strength  of  mind  and  overflowing  charity, 
fell  a  victim  to  her  devotion  to  the  wants  of 
the  fever-stricken  patriot  prisoners  confined 
in  the  jails  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  by  the 
British.  His  two  brothers,  older  than  him- 
self, bravely  fought  and  nobly  fell  in  support 
of  the  country  of  their  adoption,  for  they 
were  not  born  on  this  continent.  Indeed  the 
whole  family  seems  to  have  been  imbued 
with  an  intense  spirit  of  military  patriotism, 
for  in  1780,  we  find  young  Andrew  himself 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Continental  army,  where 
he  remained  till  victory  crowned  the  long 
and  desperate  efforts  of  the  United  Colonies. 
For  some  years  after,  the  young  orphan 
cultivated  the  arts  of  peace  under  very 
adverse  circumstances ;  sometimes  engaged 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  69 

in  agriculture,  and  at  others  in  those  mul- 
tifarious pursuits  which  the  sturdy  back- 
woodsman knows  so  well  how  to  adopt  as 
a  means  of  gaining  a  livelihood.  It  was 
while  thus  engaged  that  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  that  sturdy,  rugged  physical  con- 
stitution which  enabled  him  in  after  years 
to  perform  a  vast  amount  of  work  without 
mental  or  bodily  fatigue,  and  to  endm-e 
hardships  almost  incredible  with  little  in- 
convenience. But  he  was  not  content  to 
occupy  always  this  obscure  station  in  life. 
His  ambition  took  a  nobler  flight,  and,  con- 
scious of  his  own  innate  powers,  he  sought  to 
improve  his  mind  as  well  as  to  sustain  his 
body.  As  far  as  his  limited  means  would 
allow,  and  the  scant  opportunities  for  mental 
improvement  which  that  wild  district  pre- 
sented, he  labored  assiduously  to  acquire  at 
least  some  knowledge  of  the  language  and 
institutions  of  his  country.  This  partially 
accomplished,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
law  with  Judge  McKay,  and  afterwards  re- 
moved with  John  McNairy  to  Tennessee. 
Though  ill  prepared  by  early  training 


70  IRISHMEN  S    SONS. 

or  previous  legal  practice,  but  with  an  un- 
bending will,  ever  his  chief  characteristic, 
we  find  him  in  his  new  home  rapidly  ad- 
vancing to  success,  gaining  so  much,  step  by- 
step,  in  public  confidence,  that  before  the 
close  of  the  century  he  occupied  a  seat  on 
the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Com-t,  the  high- 
est tribunal  in  the  state.  *'  The  first  time  I 
saw  General  Jackson,''  writes  a  distinguished 
friend  of  his,  afterwards  United  States  Sena- 
tor, ''was  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  in  1799 — 
he  on  the  bench,  a  judge  of  the  then  Supe- 
rior Com-t,  and  I,  a  youth  of  seventeen,  back 
in  the  crowd.  He  was  then  a  remark- 
able man,  and  had  his  ascendant  over 
all  who  approached  him,  not  the  eifect  of 
his  high  judicial  station,  nor  of  the  sena- 
torial rank  which  he  had  held  and  resigned  ; 
nor  of  military  exploits,  for  he  had  not  then 
been  to  war;  but  the  effect  of  personal 
qualities :  cordial  and  graceful  manners, 
hospitable  temper,  elevation  of  mind,  un- 
daunted spirit,  generosity,  and  perfect  integ- 
rity. In  charging  the  jury  in  the  impending 
case,  he    committed   a   slight   solecism   in 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  71 

language,  which  grated  on  my  ear,  and 
lodged  on  my  memory,  without  derogating 
in  the  least  ifrom  the  respect  which  he  in- 
spired ;  and  without  awakening  the  slightest 
suspicion  that  I  was  ever  to  be  engaged  in 
smoothing  his  diction.  The  first  time  I 
spoke  mth  him  was  some  years  after,  at  a 
(then)  frontier  town  in  Tennessee,  when  he 
was  returning  from  a  Southern  visit,  which 
brought  him  through  the  towns  and  camps 
of  some  of  the  Indian  tribes.  In  pulling  oif 
his  overcoat,  I  perceived  on  the  white  lining 
of  the  turning  down  sleeve,  a  dark  speck, 
which  had  life  and  motion.  I  brushed  it  off, 
and  put  the  heel  of  my  shoe  upon  it — little 
thinking  that  I  was  ever  to  brush  away  from 
him  game  of  a  very  different  kind.  He 
smiled;  and  we  began  a  conversation  in 
which  he  very  quickly  revealed  a  leading 
trait  of  his  character — that  of  encouraging 
young  men  in  their  laudable  pursuits. 
Getting  my  name  and  parentage,  and 
learning  my  intended  profession,  he  mani- 
fested a  regard  for  me,  said  he  had  re- 
ceived hospitality  at  my  father's  house  in 


72 

North  Carolina,  gave  me  kind  invitations 
to  visit  him ;  and  expressed  a  belief  that  I 
would  do  well  at  the  bar — generous  words, 
which  had  the  effect  of  promoting  what 
they  undertook  to  foretell.  Soon  after, 
he  had  further  opportunity  to  show  his 
generous  feelings.  I  was  employed  in  a 
criminal  case  of  great  magnitude,  where  the 
oldest  and  ablest  counsel  appeared — Ha}^- 
wood,  Grundy,  Whiteside — and  the  ti'ial  of 
which  General  Jackson  attended  throuofh 
concern  for  the  fate  of  a  friend.  As  junior 
counsel  I  had  to  precede  my  elders,  and  did 
my  best;  and,  it  being  on  the  side  of  his 
feelings,  he  found  my  effort  to  be  better 
than  it  Avas.  He  complimented  me  greatly, 
and  from  that  time  our  intimacy  began." 

He  had  previously  been  elected  Represent- 
ative in  1796,  and  Senator  in  1797,  but  he 
resigned  all  these  positions  for  the  attractions 
of  private  life,  and  retired  to  his  splendid 
farm  of  two  thousand  acres,  known  as  the 
^'  Hermitage,"  about  twelve  miles  from 
Nashville,  where,  in  the  society  of  his 
amiable  wife  and  her  young  relatives,  and 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  73 

surrounded  by  a  host  of  sincere  friends,  he 
resolved  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  days 
far  from  the  bustle  and  excitement  of  the 
pohtical  arena.     But  fate  had  not  so  willed 
it.     His  repose  was  soon  to  be  disturbed, 
and  his  secluded  home  to  be  invaded  by 
the  clang  of  arms,  and  the  voice    of  his 
imperilled  countrymen.    The  ''  Hermitage," 
was  no  longer  to  be  a  place  devoted  to 
quietness  and  retirement,  but  to  become,  in 
all  future  times,  the  shrine  at  which  many  a 
political  pilgrim  and  devotee  loved  to  \isit. 
In  1812  the  tocsin  of  war  was  sounded 
throughout   the   land    from    end    to    end. 
England   and   her  Indian  alhes,  the   bar- 
barians of  the  old  and  new  world,  again 
menacing  the  integrity  of  the  Young  Re- 
pubhc,  were  to  be  once  more  defied,  fought, 
and  defeated,  and  Jackson,  who,  at  the  age 
of  thu'teen,  had  shouldered  his  gun  in  the 
same  good  cause,  was  not  the  man  to  stand 
idle  while  his  country  was  in  danger.     It 
was  while  at  the  Hermitage,  smTOunded  by 
his  family  and  friends  and  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  all  that  material  comfort  and  do- 


74  irishmen's  sons. 

mestic  harmony  could  bestow,  that  the 
summons  reached  him;  he  had  been  ap- 
pomted  Major-General  of  the  MiUtia  of  his 
State  in  1801,  and  was  required  to  not  only 
lead  but  raise  the  quota  of  Tennessee  ;  and, 
like  a  second  Cincinnatus,  he  cheerfully 
left  the  plough  in  the  fmTOw  and  took  up  the 
sword  of  the  warrior.  The  Greneral  Govern- 
ment also  commissioned  him  Brigadier- Gen- 
eral, and,  two  years  after,  he  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  Major-General  of  Regulars. 

The  former  choice,  in  all  respects,  though 
effected  by  a  majority  of  one,  was  most 
judicious.  He  had  many  friends  in  the 
neighborhood,  whose  confidence  in  his 
ability  to  execute  the  duties  of  any 
office  which  he  assumed  was  unlimited. 
He  quickly  raised  a  corps  of  volunteers 
and  commenced  operations  against  the 
Creek  Indians,  then  in  alliance  with 
England,  whom,  after  marches  of  incredible 
difficulty  and  many  battles  and  minor  en- 
counters, he  completely  subdued.  Of  the 
former  the  most  important  and  decisive  was 
that    of    Tohopeka,    fought    April,    1814, 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  75 

in  which  the  savages  were  almost  completely 
annihilated;  the  last  and  principal  charge 
on  them  being  led  by  a  gallant  Irishman,  of 
whom  Jackson  says,  "  the  militia  of  the 
venerable  General  Dougherty's  brigade 
acted  in  the  charge  with  a  \dvacity  and 
firmness  which  would  have  done,  honor  to 
regulars." 

After  the  declaration  of  war  in  1812,  the 
fii'st  series  of  engagements  between  the  con- 
tending forces  took  place  on  the  Canadian 
frontier,   at   the   beginning   with   doubtful 
success ;  but  eventually  the  tide  of  victory 
turned  in  favor   of  the   Americans.     The 
same  result  occurred  to  the  allies  of  the 
British,  the  Creeks,  but  the  national  cause  in 
this  case  was,  as  we  have  seen,  much  more 
triumphantly  sustained.     The   next   move 
was  against  our  centre.     Havre-de-Grace, 
Maryland,  having  been  attacked  in  May, 
1813,  and  in  the  August  of  the  following 
year  the  battle  of  Bladensburg  was  fought, 
and  the  city  of  Washington  burned  by  the 
English.     But  their  victory  was  a  barren 
one;  and  Boss,  their  general,  having  been 


76  irishmen's  sons. 

slain,  they  transferred  their  scene  of  opera- 
tions farther  south.  On  the  22d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1814,  General  Packenham  ajDpeared  in 
the  neighborhood  of  New  Orleans,  with 
about  fourteen  thousand  veteran  troops,  well 
armed  and  equipped,  thoroughly  officered, 
and  supported  by  a  large  flotilla  and  some 
vessels  of  war.  In  the  meantime  Major- 
General  Jackson,  then  commanding  the 
seventh  division,  was  ordered  to  march  to 
the  relief  of  the  menaced  city;  which  he  did 
with  his  usual  promptness  and  celerity, 
though  all  the  troops  he  could  muster  did 
not  number  six  thousand,  some  of  whom 
were  militia  who  had  served  under  him  in 
liis  Indian  war,  but  the  majority  were  raw 
le^aes  from  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and 
Mississippi. 

It  may  well  be  imagined  that  a  contest 
between  forces  so  unequally  matched  could 
have  but  one  result,  and  that  result  far  dif- 
ferent from  the  actual  one.  Of  the  first 
encounter,  which  took  place  December 
23d,  the  hero  himself  modestly  writes  to 
President  Monroe : 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  77 

''The  loss  of  our  gun-boats  near  the  pass  of  the 
Rigolets  having  given  the  enemy  command  of  Lake 
Borgne,  he  was  enabled  to  choose  his  point  of  attack. 
It  became,  therefore,  an  object  of  importance  to  obstruct 
the  numerous  bayous  and  canals  leading  from  that  lake 
to  the  highlands  on  the  Mississippi.  This  important 
service  was  committed,  in  the  first  instance,  to  a  de- 
tachment of  the  Seventh  regiment ;  afterwards  to  Col. 
De  Laronde,  of  the  Louisiana  militia,  and,  lastly,  to 
make  all  sure,  to  Major-General  Villere,  commanding 
the  district  between  the  river  a,nd  the  lakes,  and  who, 
being  a  native  of  the  country,  was  presumed  to  be  best 
acquainted  with  all  those  passes.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, a  picquet  which  the  general  had  established  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Bayou  Bienvenue,  and  which,  notwith- 
standing my  orders,  had  been  left  unobstracted,  was 
completely  surprised,  and  the  enemy  penetrated  through 
a  canal  leading  to  a  farm,  about  two  leagues  below  the 
city,  and  succeeded  in  cutting  off  a  company  of  militia 
stationed  there.  This  intelligence  was  communicated 
to  me  about  twelve  o'clock  of  the  23d.  My  force 
at  this  time  consisted  of  parts  of  the  Seventh  and 
Forty-fourth  regiments,  not  exceeding  six  hundred  to- 
gether, the  city  militia,  a  part  of  General  Coffee's  bri- 
gade of  mounted  gunmen,  and  the  detached  militia  from 
the  western  division  of  Tennessee,  under  the  command 
of  Major-General  Carroll.  These  two  last  corps  were 
stationed  four  miles  above  the  city.  Apprehending  a 
double  attack  by  the  way  of  Chief-Menteur,  I  left  Gen 
eral  CaiToll's  force  and  the  militia  of  the  city  posted  on 


78  irishmen's  sons. 

tlie  Gentilly  road ;  and  at  five  o'clock  p.  M.  marched 
to  meet  the  enemy,  whom  I  was  resoh^ed  to  attack  in 
his  first  position,  with  Major  Hinds's  dragoons,  General 
Coffee's  brigade,  parts  of  the  Seventh  and  Forty-foui'th 
regiments,  the  uniformed  companies  of  militia,  under  the 
command  of  Major  Planche,  two  hundred  men  of  color, 
chiefly  from  St.  Domingo,  raised  by  Colonel  Savary, 
and  under  the  command  of  Major  Dag  win,  and  a  de- 
tachment of  artillery  under  the  direction  of  Colonel 
M'Rhea,  with  two  six-pounders,  under  the  command  of 
Lieutenant  Spottsj  not  exceeding,  in  all,  fifteen 
hundred.  I  amved  near  the  enem\^'s  encampment 
about  seven,  and  immediately  made  my  dispositions  for 
the  attack.  His  forces,  amounting  at  that  time  on  land 
to  about  three  thousand,  extended  half  a  mile  on  that 
river,  and  in  the  rear  nearly  to  the  wood.  General  Cof- 
fee was  ordered  to  turn  their  right,  while,  with  the  resi- 
due of  the  force,  I  attacked  his  strongest  position  on  the 
left,  near  the  river.  Commodore  Patterson,  having 
dropped  down  the  river  in  the  schooner  Caroline,  was 
directed  to  open  a  fire  upon  their  camp,  which  he  executed 
at  about  half-past  seven.  This  being  a  signal  of  attack, 
General  Coffee's  men,  with  their  usual  impetuosity, 
rushed  on  the  enemy's  right,  and  entered  their  camp, 
while  our  right  advanced  with  equal  ardor.  Tiiere  can 
be  but  little  doubt  that  we  should  have  succeeded  on 
that  occasion,  with  our  inferior  force,  in  destroying  or 
capturing  the  enemy,  had  not  a  thick  fog,  which  arose 
about  eight  o'clock,  occasioned  some  confusion  among 
the  different  corps.     Fearing  the  consequence,  under 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  79 

this  circumstance,  of  the  fmiher  prosecution  of  a  night 
attack,  with  troops  then  acting  together  for  the  first 
time,  I  contented  myself  with  lying  on  the  field  that 
night ;  and  at  four  in  the  morning  assumed  a  stronger 
position,  about  two  miles  nearer  the  city.  At  this  posi- 
tion I  remained  encamped,  waiting  the  anival  of  the 
Kentucky  militia  and  other  reinforcements.  As  the 
safety  of  the  city  will  depend  on  the  fate  of  this  army, 
it  must  not  be  incautiously  exposed. 

"  In  this  affair  the  whole  corps  under  my  command 
deserve  the  greatest  credit.  The  best  compliment  I 
can  pay  to  General  Coffee  and  his  brigade  is,  to  say 
they  have  behaved  as  they  have  always  done  while 
under  my  command.  The  Seventh,  led  by  Major  Pierre, 
and  Forty-fourth,  commanded  by  Colonel  Ross,  dis- 
tinguished themselves.  The  battalion  of  city  militia, 
commanded  by  Major  Planche,  realized  my  anticipations, 
and  behaved  like  veterans.  Savary's  volunteers  mani- 
fested great  bravery ;  and  the  company  of  city  riflemen, 
having  penetrated  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy's  camp, 
were  surrounded,  and  fought  their  way  out  with  the 
greatest  heroism,  bringing  with  them  a  number  of 
prisoners.  The  two  field-pieces  were  well  served  by 
the  officers  commanding  them. 

^'All  my  officers  in  the  line  did  their  duty,  and  I 
have  every  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  whole  of  my 
field  and  staff.  Colonels  Butler  and  Piatt,  and  Major 
Chotard,  by  their  intrepidity,  saved  the  artillery. 
Colonel  Haynes  was  everywhere  that  duty  or  danger 
called.     I  was  deprived  of  the  services  of  one  of  my 


80  irishmen's  sons. 

aids,  Captain  Butler,  whom  I  was  obliged  to  station, 
to  his  great  regret,  in  town.  Captain  Reid,  my  other 
aid,  and  Messrs.  Livingston,  Duplissis,  and  Davezac, 
who  had  volunteered  their  services,  faced  danger  wher- 
ever it  was  to  be  met,  and  earned  my  orders  with  the 
utmost  promptitude. 

^'  We  made  one  major,  two  subalterns,  and  sixty-three 
privates,  prisoners ;  and  the  enemy's  loss,  in  killed  and 

wounded,  must  have  been  at  least .    My  own  loss 

I  have  not  as  yet  been  able  to  ascertain  with  exactness, 
but  suppose  it  to  amount  to  one  hundred  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing.  Among  the  former,  I  have  to 
lament  the  loss  of  Colonel  Lauderdale,  of  General 
Coffee's  brigade,  who  fell  while  bravely  fighting.  Cols. 
Dyer  and  Gibson,  of  the  same  corps,  were  wounded,  and 
Major  Kavenaugh  taken  prisoner. 

"■  Colonel  De  Laronde,  Major  Villere,  of  the  Louisiana 
militia.  Major  Latour  of  Engineers,  having  no  command, 
volunteered  their  services,  as  did  Drs.  Kerr  and  Hood, 
and  were  of  great  assistance  to  me." 

Of  the  great  battle,  that  of  the  8th  of 
January,  1815,  tlie  following  graj^hic,  yet 
glowing  description,  from  the  pen  of  a  con- 
temporary writer  thoroughly  master  of  his 
subject  will  be  found  of  even  greater 
interest : 

'^  On  the  seventh,  a  general  movement  and  bustle  in 
the  British  camp  indicated  that  the  contemplated  attack 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  81 

was  about  to  be  made.  Everything  in  the  American 
encampment  was  ready  for  action,  when,  at  daybreak, 
on  tie  morning  of  the  memoi-able  eighth,  a  shower  of 
rockets  from  the  enemy  gave  the  signal  of  battle.  A 
detachment  of  the  enemy,  under  Colonel  Thornton, 
proceeded  to  attack  the  works  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river,  while  General  Pakenham,  with  his  whole  force, 
exceeding  twelve  thousand  men,  moved  in  two  divisions 
under  Generals  Gibbs  and  Kean,  and  a  reserve  under 
General  Lambert.  Both  divisions  were  supplied  with 
scaling-ladders  and  fascines,  and  General  Gibbs  had 
directions  to  make  the  principal  attack.  Nothing  could 
exceed  the  imposing  grandeur  of  the  scene.  The  whole 
British  force  advanced  with  much  deliberation,  in  solid 
columns,  over  the  even  surface  of  the  plain  in  front  of 
the  American  intrenchments,  bearing  with  them,  in  addi- 
tion to  their  arms,  their  fascines  and  ladders  for  storming 
the  American  works.  All  was  hushed  in  awful  stillness 
throughout  the  American  lines  5  each  soldier  grasped 
his  arms  with  a  fixedness  of  pui-pose,  which  told  his 
firm  resolve  to  '  do  or  die ; '  till  the  enemy  approached 
within  reach  of  the  batteries,  which  opened  upon  them  an 
incessant  and  destructive  tide  of  death.  They  con- 
tinued, however,  to  advance  with  the  greatest  firmness, 
closing  up  their  lines  as  they  were  opened  by  the  fire 
of  the  Americans,  till  they  approached  within  reach  of 
the  musketry  and  rifles;  these,  in  addition  to  the 
artillery,  produced  the  most  terrible  havoc  in  their  ranks, 
and  threw  them  into  the  greatest  confusion.  Twice 
were   they  driven  back  with  immense  slaughter,  and 


82  irishmen's  sons. 

twice  they  formed  again  and  renewed  tbe  assault.  But 
the  fire  of  tlie  Americans  was  tremendous ;  it  w&s  un- 
paralleled in  the  annals  of  deadly  doing;  it  was  one 
continued  blaze  of  destruction,  before  which  men  could 
not  stand  and  live.  Every  discharge  sw^ept  away  the 
British  columns  like  an  inundation — they  could  not 
withstand  it,  but  lied  in  consternation  and  dismay. 
Vigorous  were  the  attempts  of  their  officers  to  rally 
them;  General  Pakenham,  in  the  attempt,  received  a 
shot,  and  fell  upon  the  field.  Generals  Gibbs  and  Kean 
succeeded,  and  attempted  again  to  push  on  their  columns 
to  the  attack,  but  a  still  more  dreadful  fatality  met  them 
from  the  thunders  of  the  American  batteries.  A  third 
unavailing  attempt  was  made  to  rally  their  troops  by 
their  ofticers,  but  the  same  destruction  met  them.  The 
gallantry  of  the  British  officers,  on  this  desperate  day, 
was  deserving  of  a  worthier  cause  and  better  fate. 
General  Gibbs  fell  mortally,  and  General  Kean  des- 
perately wounded,  and  were  borne  from  the  field  of 
action.  The  discomfiture  of  the  enemy  was  now  com- 
plete; a  few  only  of  the  platoons  readied  the  ditch, 
there  to  meet  more  certain  death.  The  remainder  fled 
from  the  field  with  the  greatest  precipitancy,  and  no 
further  efibrts  were  made  to  rally  them.  Tlie  intervening 
plain  between  the  American  and  British  fortifications 
was  covered  with  the  dead  ;  taking  into  view  the  length 
of  time  and  the  numbers  engaged,  the  annals  of  bloody 
strife,  it  is  believed,  fumisL  no  parallel  to  the  dreadful 
carnage  of  this  battle.  Two  thousand,  at  the  lowest 
estimate,  fell,  besides  a  considerable  number  wounded. 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  83 

The  loss  of  the  Americans  did  not  exceed  seven  killed 
and  six  wounded.  General  Lambert  was  the  only 
superior  officer  left  on  the  field  ;  being  unable  to  check 
the  flight  of  the  British  columns,  he  retreated  to  his  en- 
campment." 

We  cannot  better  close  an  account  of  this, 
Jackson's,  grandest  military  achievement, 
than  by  quoting  the  terse  reply  of  Senator 
Thomas  Benton  to  Monsieur  cle  Tocqueville, 
a  ])ropos  of  the  victory  and  the  victor  :  ''  It 
was  no  ordinary  achievement.  It  was  a  vic- 
tory of  4,600  citizens  just  called  from  their 
homes,  without  knowledge  of  scientific  war, 
under  a  leader  as  little  schooled  as  them- 
selves in  that  particular,  without  other  ad- 
vantages than  a  slight  field-work  (a  ditch 
and  a  bank  of  earth)  hastily  thrown  up — 
over  double  their  numbers  of  British  veter- 
ans, survivors  of  the  wars  of  the  French 
Revolution,  victors  in  the  Peninsula  and  at 
Toulouse,  under  trained  generals  of  the 
Wellington  school,  and  w^ith  a  disparity 
of  loss  never  before  witnessed.  On  one 
side  700  killed  (including  the  fii^st,  second, 
and  third  generals);  1,400  Avounded;   500 


84  irishmen's  sons. 

taken  prisoners.  On  the  other,  six  privates 
killed,  and  seven  wounded;  and  the  total 
repulse  of  an  invading  army  which  instantly 
fled  to  its  '  wooden  walls,'  and  never  again 
placed  a  hostile  foot  on  American  soil. 
Such  an  achievement  is  not  ordinary,  much 
less  'very'  ordinary.  Does  Monsieur  de 
Tocque^^lle  judge  the  importance  of  victories 
by  the  numbers  engaged,  and  the  quantity 
of  blood  shed,  or  by  their  consequences  I 
If  the  former,  the  cannonade  on  the  heights 
of  Valmy  (which  was  not  a  battle,  nor  even 
a  combat,  but  a  distant  cannon  firing  in 
which  few  were  hurt),  must  seem  to  him  a 
very  insignificant  affair.  Yet  it  did  what 
the  marvellous  \dctories  of  Champaubert, 
Montmirail,  Chateau-Thierry,  Yauchamps, 
and  Montereau  could  not  do — turned  back 
the  invader,  and  saved  the  soil  of  France 
from  the  iron  hoof  of  the  conqueror's  horse  ! 
and  was  commemorated  twelve  vears  after- 
wards  by  the  great  emperor  in  a  ducal  title 
bestowed  upon  one  of  its  generals.  The 
\dctory  at  New  Orleans  did  what  the  can- 
nonade   at    Yalmy   did — drove   back   the 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  85 

invader !  and  also  what  it  did  not  do — de- 
stroyed the  one  fourth  part  of  his  force.  And, 
therefore,  it  is  not  to  be  disparaged,  and 
will  not  be,  by  any  one  who  judges  victo- 
ries by  their  consequences,  instead  of  by 
the  numbers  engaged.  And  so  the  victory 
at  New  Orleans  will  remain  in  history  as 
one  of  the  great  achievements  of  the  world, 
in  spite  of  the  low  opinion  which  the  writer 
on  American  democracy  entertains  of  it." 

In  those  days  of  slow  communication  the 
news  of  this  great  victory  only  reached 
Washington  on  the  4th  of  February ;  and, 
as  might  be  expected,  caused  intense  and 
universal  joy,  not  only  in  the  national  capi- 
tal but  throughout  the  entire  country.  Con- 
gress unanimously  passed  a  vote  of  thanks 
to  the  victor  and  his  subordinates,  and  or- 
dered a  gold  medal  to  be  struck  and  pre- 
sented to  the  general,  commemorative  of  the 
event.  The  populace,  also,  independent 
of  all  party  affiliations,  expressed  in  the  most 
enthusiastic  terms  their  admiration  for  the 
hero  of  New  Orleans  and  his  gallant  little 
army.     The  press  of  the   day,  such  as  it 


86  irishmen's  sons. 

was,  taxed  its  utmost  energies  to  laud  liis 
bravery  and  skill ;  patriotic  gatherings 
passed  glowing  resolutions  of  commenda- 
tion, and  toasts  were  everywhere  di'ank  in 
his  honor. 

This  jubilant  state  of  public  feeling  was 
still  more  heightened  by  the  arrival,  a  few 
days  after,  of  a  ship  at  New  York,  with  news 
of  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  by 
which  peace  between  the  United  States  and 
England  was  again  restored,  and  the  de- 
mands of  the  foinner  country  substantially 
conceded.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  this 
treaty  was  signed  in  December,  1814;  so 
that  in  fact  the  respective  nations  of  Jackson 
and  Packenham,  on  the  day  of  the  battle  of 
New  Orleans,  were  no  longer  enemies  ;  but 
the  vessel  employed  to  bring  the  intelligence 
to  our  shores  was  delayed  by  storms  and 
adverse  winds  and  only  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing her  port  on  the  11th  of  February,  1815. 

Jackson  remained  in  New  Orleans  tln-ee 
months  after  the  battle.  Like  a  piTident  and 
humane  commander  his  first  care  was  for 
his  wounded  and  almost  naked  troops,  and 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  87 

in  this  he  was  most  zealously  and  efficient- 
ly assisted  by  the  citizens.  Private  houses 
were  thrown  open  for  the  reception  of  the 
sufferers ;  bknkets,  mattresses,  and  clothing 
of  every  description  were  cheerfully  and 
voluntarily  supplied;  and  all  classes  and 
sexes  vied,  one  with  the  otlier,  in  their 
attention  to  the  brave  men  who  had  de- 
fended their  homes  and  Hberties.  When 
the  enemy  had  disappeared  and  all  danger 
of  his  retm-n  had  vanished,  the  troops  were 
removed  from  the  city  to  a  more  salubrious 
position. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  at  that  time  the 
population  of  New  Orleans,  mostly  French 
or  of  French  origin,  were,  almost  without 
exception.  Catholic,  and  their  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  the  United  States  was  no  doubt 
heightened  by  their  national  and  religious 
antipathy  to  England;  then,  as  ever,  the 
most  bitter  persecutor  of  tlie  Church.  An 
incident  which  occurred  on  the  eve  of  the 
battle  of  the  8th  well  illustrates  this  feeling. 
It  was  related  many  years  after,  at  a  celebra- 
tion meeting,  by  Mr.  Livingston,  a  United 


88  irishmen's  sons. 

States  senator,  who  was  a  participant  in  the 
action.     He  said : 

"  In  the  city  of  New  Orleans  is  a  con- 
vent in  which  a  number  of  respectable 
ladies  have  dedicated  their  lives  to  the 
practice  of  piety,  to  the  education  of  poor 
children  of  their  own  sex,  and  to  works 
of  charity.  This  pious  sisterhood  were 
awakened  from  then-  rest,  or  disturbed  in 
their  holy  vigils,  before  the  dawn  of  the  8th 
of  January,  by  the  roar  of  cannon  and 
volleys  of  musketry.  The  calendar  which 
pointed  out  the  prayers  of  the  day  was 
hastily  opened,  and  indicated  the  auspicious 
name  of  St.  Victoria.  They  hailed  the 
omen,  and  prostrate  on  the  pavement  which 
'  holy  knees  had  worn,'  implored  the  God  of 
Battles  to  nerve  the  arm  of  their  protectors 
and  turn  the  tide  of  combat  against  the  in- 
vaders of  their  country.  Their  prayers  were 
heard.  And,  while  they  daily  offer  up  their 
thanks  to  the  Power  to  whose  aid  they 
ascribe  their  deliverance,  they  have  not  been 
unmindful  of  him  who  was  chosen  as  the 
instrument  to  effect  it." 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  89 

Though  by  no  means  a  religious  man, 
much  less  a  zealot,  Jackson  could  not  but 
ascribe  his  unexpected  triumph  to  an 
agency  higher  than  any  mere  human  means. 
Accordingly,  as  soon  as  his  wounded  were 
attended  to  and  his  famished  men  fed  and 
clothed,  he  addressed  to  the  Abb^  Dubourg 
a  request,  couched  in  most  appropriate  and 
Christian  terms,  that  he  would  cause  a  Te 
Beum  to  be  sung  in  the  cathedral,  in  thanks- 
giving for  the  victory.  The  favor  was 
cheerfully  granted,  and  on  the  23d  of 
January  the  citizens  of  New  Orleans  wit- 
nessed a  spectacle  such  as  had  never  been 
seen  in  its  streets  before  or  subsequently. 
The  avenue  to  the  cathedral  was  lined  with 
spectators  in  holiday  garb,  the  houses  on 
either  side  being  decorated  with  garlands 
and  flags,  while  at  intervals,  floral  arches 
of  triumph  were  thrown  across  from  house 
to  house.  Up  this  street  came  Jackson  in, 
full  uniform,  attended  by  his  staff  and 
many  of  his  oflicers,  and  escorted  by 
the  most  prominent  citizens.  At  the 
vestibule  of  the  church   he  was  met   by 


00  irishmen's  sons. 

the  venerable  Abb^,  in  full  canonicals, 
and  welcomed  in  a  brief,  but  liiglily  eulo- 
gistic and  dignified  address.  The  General 
replied  in  a  similar  strain  and  the  whole 
party  entered  the  cathedral,  when  the 
noblest  hymn  of  the  Catholic  Church  was 
chanted,  its  notes  of  gratitude  and  exalta- 
tion finding  a  responsive  echo  in  thou- 
sands of  grateful  hearts. 

Jackson  departed  for  his  home,  in  April, 
ha-vdng  previously  been  the  recipient  of  every 
honor  and  favor  that  an  enthusiastic  and 
warm-hearted  people  could  bestow.  With 
the  ladies  in  particular  he  seems  to  liave 
been  an  especial  favorite,  and  they  were 
never  tired  of  showing  their  appreciation 
of  the  services  he  had  rendered  them,  and 
to  Mrs.  Jackson,  who  came  down  to  visit  her 
husband,  they  were  particularly  hospitable 
and  attentive.  Their  delicacy  and  kindness 
in  this  respect  were  more  grateful  to  the  Gen- 
eral than  any  compliment  they  could  have 
paid  himself 

After  four  months'  rest  at  the  Hermitage, 
Jackson  proceeded  to  Washington  City  by 


AjS^DREW   JACKSON.  91 

easy  stages ;  for  his  health,  which  had  been 
exceedingly  jDrecarious  at  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war,  was  even  more  enfeebled  by 
exposure  and  privation  in  the  field.  Every 
town,  village,  and  hamlet  through  which  he 
passed  on  his  route  received  him  with  the 
greatest  enthusiasm,  and  the  few  large  cities 
which  at  that  time  lay  between  Nashville 
and  the  capital  serenaded  and  feted  him  to 
such  a  degree  that  he  was  glad  to  escape  so 
oppressive  but  well-meant  attentions. 

On  arriving  at  his  destination  he  was 
very  cordially  received  by  the  Executive, 
and  confirmed  in  his  rank  of  Major-Gener- 
al,  with  the  command  of  the  south-west. 
The  members  of  both  branches  of  Congress, 
also,  were  unremitting  in  their  politeness, 
some  from  a  sense,  no  doubt,  of  his  popularity 
and  growing  influence  in  public  affairs,  and 
others  from  higher  motives.  He  did  not, 
liowever,  remain  long  in  Washington,  for  we 
find  him  at  his  headquarters  in  Nashville,  in 
October  of  the  following  year,  having  turned 
aside  from  his  homeward  journey  to  visit  the 
Indian  country  and  some  of  the  more  im- 


92 

portant  posts  of  his  command.  In  March, 
1817,  on  the  accession  of  Mr.  Monroe  to  the 
presidency,  he  was  offered  the  position  of 
Secretary  of  War,  but  declined  it,  from  a 
conviction  that  he  was  more  useful  to  the 
country  in  his  present  capacity.  He  fore- 
saw that  an  Indian  war  was  imminent,  and 
was  resolved  to  command  in  it. 

His  foresight,  as  usual,  was  correct.  In 
this  very  year  the  Seminoles  of  Florida, 
a  very  powerful  and  warlike  tribe,  instigated 
by  a  Scotch  trader  named  Arbuthnot,  an 
English  ex-midshipman  named  Ambrister, 
and  several  other  adventurers  from  the 
neighboring  Bahamas,  commenced  depreda- 
tions on  the  settlers  of  the  frontiers  of 
Georgia,  during  which  a  great  many  white 
men  were  mercilessly  slaughtered,  and  those 
taken  captive  put  to  death  with  inhuman 
tortures.  General  Gaines  at  first  endeavored 
to  check  the  savages,  and  to  some  extent 
succeeded,  but  Jackson  was  con^dnced 
that  no  half  measures  would  ever  succeed 
against  so  wily  and  implacable  an  enemy. 
The   foe   must  not    only  be    beaten    out 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  93 

of  Georgia,  but  pursued  and  destroyed 
in  Florida,  before  peace  could  be  perma- 
nently restored. 

Florida  at  that  time  was  a   colony  of 
Spain,  a  country  at  peace  with  ours,  and 
an  armed  invasion  of  its  soil,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  would  of  course  be  a  breach 
of  the  law  of  nations  and  a  violation  of  our 
treaty  stipulations.     But  the  circumstances 
were  not  ordinary.     A  part  of  it  around 
Negro  Point  was  held  by  an  armed  force  of 
runaway  negroes  ;  and  another,  Pensacola, 
by  Scotch  and  English  filibusters ;  while  the 
Seminoles,  supplied  by  the  latter  with  arms 
and  ammunition,  invaded  at  pleasure  the 
Georgian  frontiers  and,  when  beaten  back, 
took   refuge   under   the   guns    of   one    or 
other  fort.     The  Spanish  Captain- General 
was   unable    or   uuwilHng   to   keep    those 
lawless  banditti  in  order,  so  it  became  the 
duty  of  om-  Government,  in  protecting  the 
lives  and  property  of  its  citizens,  to  take 
the  matter  into  its  own  hands. 

General   Jackson   saw   the  necessity  of 
such    a    decisive    step,   but,   unwilhng    to 


94  irishmen's  sons. 

involve  the  country  in  a  foreign  dispute, 
proposed  ^'to  take  the  responsibiUty"  on 
himself.  He  therefore  wrote  a  confidential 
letter  to  the  President,  in  which  the  follow- 
ing significant  paragraphs  occur : 

^'  The  Executive  Grovernment  have  order- 
ed, and,  as  I  conceive,  very  properly,  Ameha 
Island  to  be  taken  possession  of  This 
order  ought  to  be  carried  into  execution  at 
all  hazards,  and  simultaneously  the  whole 
of  East  Florida  seized  and  held  as  an  in- 
demnity for  the  outrages  of  Spain  upon  the 
property  of  our  citizens.  This  done,  it 
puts  all  opposition  down,  secures  our  citi- 
zens a  complete  indemnity,  and  saves  us 
from  a  war  with  Great  Britain,  or  some  of 
the  Continental  powers,  combined  with 
Spain.  This  can  be  done  without  impHcat- 
ing  the  government.  Let  it  be  signified  to 
me  through  any  channel  (say  Mr.  J.  Rhea), 
that  the  possession  of  the  Floridas  would  be 
desirable  to  the  United  States,  and  in  sixty 
days  it  will  be  accomplished. 

''The  order  being  given  for  the  possession 
of  Amelia  Island,  it  ought  to  be  executed,  or 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  95 

our  enemies,  internal  and  external,  will  use 
it  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  government. 
If  our  troops  enter  the  territory  of  Spain  in 
pm^suit  of  our  Indian  enemj,  all  opposition 
that  they  meet  with  must  be  put  down,  or 
we  will  be  involved  in  danger  and  dis- 
grace." 

''  In  accordance  with  the  advice  of  Mr. 
Calhoun,"  says  Jackson  himself,  in  his  ''  Ex- 
position," "and  availing  himself  of  the 
suggestion  contained  in  the  letter,  Mr.  Mon- 
roe sent  for  Mr.  John  Rhea  (then  a  member 
of  Congress),  showed  him  the  confidential 
letter,  and  requested  him  to  answer  it.  In 
conformity  with  this  request  Mr.  Rhea  did 
answer  the  letter,  and  informed  General 
Jackson  that  the  President  had  shown  him 
the  confidential  letter,  and  requested  him  to 
state  that  he  approved  of  its  suggestions. 
This  answer  was  received  by  the  General  on 
the  second  night  he  remained  at  Big  Creek, 
which  is  four  miles  in  advance  of  Hartford, 
Georgia,  and  before  his  arrival  at  Fort 
Scott,  to  take  command  of  the  troops  in 
that  quarter." 


96 

The  Secretary  of  War,  Calhoun,  also  sent 
orders  du'ectly  to  General  Jackson  '^to 
adopt  the  necessary  measures  to  put  an  end 
to  the  conflict  without  regard  to  territorial 
lines  or  Spanish  forts."  And  yet  for  this  very 
invasion  of  Florida,  Jackson  was  not  only 
severely  blamed,  but  the  Secretary,  who  had 
countenanced  the  measure,  was  the  first,  in 
cabinet  council,  to  advise  his  trial  by  court- 
martial;  and,  this  afterwards  becoming 
known,  led  to  the  ruptm^e  between  them  in 
1831,  when  President  and  Vice-President. 
The  General's  statement  of  his  position  at 
that  time  is  terse  and  to  the  point.  He 
writes : 

^'  Having  received  further  details  of  my 
preparations,  not  only  to  terminate  the 
Seminole  war,  but,  as  the  President  and 
his  Secretary  well  knew,  to  occupy  Florida 
also,  Mr.  Calhoun  on  the  6th  February 
wi'ites  as  follows : 

^^  ^  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  yom-  letter  of  the  20th  uli,  and  to 
acquaint  you  with  the  entire  approbation 
of  the  President  of  all  the  measures  you 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  97 

have  adopted  to  terminate  the  ruioture  with 
the  Indians.' 

'^On  the  13th  of  May  following,  with  a 
full  knowledge  that  I  intended,  if  a  favorable 
occasion  presented  itself,  to  occupy  Florida, 
and  that  the  design  had  the  approbation  of 
the  President,  Mr.  Calhoun  wrote  to  Govern- 
or Bibb,  of  Alabama,  the  letter  already  al- 
luded to,  concluding  as  follows  : 

'' '  General  Jackson  is  vested  with  full 
powers  to  conduct  the  war  in  the  manner  he 
may  deem  best.' 

''  On  the  25th  of  March,  1818, 1  informed 
Mr.  Calhoun  that  I  intended  to  occupy  St. 
Mark's,  and  on  the  8th  of  April  I  informed 
him  that  it  was  done. 

"■  Not  a  whisper  of  disapprobation  or  of 
doubt  reached  me  from  the  government. 

''  On  the  5th  May  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Calhoun 
that  I  was  about  to  move  upon  Pensacola 
with  a  view  of  occupying  that  place. 

^'  Again,  no  reply  was  ever  given  disap- 
proving or  discountenancing  this  movement. 

''On  the  2d  of  June  I  informed  Mr. 
Calhoun  that  I  had  on  the  24th  May  en- 


4 


98  irishmen's  sons. 

tered   Pensacola,    and    on   the    28tli    had 
received  the  surrender  of  the  Barrancas. 

"  Again  no  reply  was  given  to  this  letter, 
expressing  any  disapproval  of  these  acts. 

^"In  fine,  from  the  receipt  of  the  Presi- 
dent's reply  to  my  confidential  letter  of  6th 
January,  1818,  through  Mr.  Rhea,  until  the 
receipt   of  the   President's   private   letter, 
dated  19th  July,  1818,  I  received  no  in- 
structions or  intimation  from  the  govern- 
ment, public  or  private,   that   my  opera- 
tions in  Florida  were  other  than  such  as 
the  President'  and  Secretary  of  War  ex- 
pected and  approved.     I  had  not  a  doubt 
that  I  had  acted  in  every  respect  in  strict 
accordance  with  their  views,  and  that  with- 
out publicly  avowing  that  they  had  au- 
thorized  my   measures,    they  were  ready 
at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances 
to   sustain   me;    and   that   as  there  were 
sound  reasons  and  justifiable  cause  for  tak- 
ing possession  of  Florida,  they  would,  in 
pm-suance  of  theii*  private  understanding 
with   me,    retain   it  as   indemnity  for  the 
spoliations  committed  by  Spanish  subjects 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  99 

on  our   citizens,  and    as   security  for  the 
peace  of  our  Southern  frontier. 

Acting  under  instructions,  General  Jack- 
son left  Nashville  in  January,  1818,  and 
reached  the  seat  of  operations  in  Mar^h 
following.  His  troops  consisted  of  eight 
hundred  regulars,  one  thousand  militia,  and 
some  Tennessee  volunteers,  whom  he  had 
raised  on  his  own  responsibility.  His 
movements  were  rapid.  On  April  4th  he 
took  St.  Mark^s  and  shortly  after  Pensacola, 
and  while  in  the  former  place  Arbuthnot 
and  Ambrister,  the  evil  genii  of  the  Semi- 
noles,  having  been  captured,  were  court- 
martialled  and,  in  accordance  with  the  find- 
ings of  the  court,  were  executed.  Jackson 
returned  to  Fort  Gadsden  in  May,  but,  ob- 
taining information  that  Pensacola  had 
again  become  a  refiigium  peccatorum,  he 
marched  again  on  that  place,  occupied  it 
permanently  with  a  de^tachment  of  his 
troops,  shortly  after  took  possession  of  St. 
Carlos  de  Barrancas,  and  thus  ended  the 
war.  Two  years  subsequently  Florida  be- 
came a  part  of  the  United  States. 


100  irishmen's  sons. 

Wliile  General  Jackson  was  receiving  on 
his  return  the  hearty  greetings  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  of  Tennessee,  Congress  was  deUb- 
erating  as  to  the  advisability  of  censui'ing, 
not  only  his  late  conduct,  but  liints  were 
even  thrown  out  that  he  ought  to  be  sub- 
jected to  disgrace  and  punishment.  The 
House  had  the  good  sense  to  reject  such 
absurd  propositions  by  a  vote  of  ninety  to 
fifty-four;  but  the  Senate  held  the  matter 
under  advisement  for  a  long  time,  and  final- 
ly did  nothing. 

Ha^^ng  been  appointed  governor  of  the 
newly  acquired  territory  by  President 
Monroe,  Major-General  Jackson,  on  the 
31st  of  May,  1821,  resigned  his  commission 
in  the  army.  Here  his  military  record 
ceases,  and  here  also,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  fifty-four,  his  career  as  a  statesman  be- 
gins. 

In  the  spring  of  1821,  he  proceeded  to 
Florida  to  discharge  his  new  civic  duties, 
but  finding  them  so  onerous,  and  his  pow- 
ers so  limited,  he  soon  resigned  the  office 
and   once   more   returned   to  the  beloved 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  101 

Hennitage,  now  rebuilt  and  arranged  more 
in  accordance  with  advancing  taste  and  his 
altered  fortunes.  In  recognition  of  his  great 
services,  the  Legislature,  in  1823,  elected 
him  U.  S.  Senator  for  the  term  of  six  years, 
but  though  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate, 
and  voted  on  some  important  questions, 
always  on  the  democratic  side,  he  remained 
in  Washington  during  but  two  sessions,  and 
then  resigned.  The  atmosphere  of  the 
national  capital  still  seemed  distasteful  to 
him. 

In  1824,  there  was  a  presidential  election. 
There  were  four  candidates,  the  friends  of 
each  of  whom  were  anxious  to  see  their 
candidate  the  successor  of  Mr.  Monroe ;  viz., 
General  Jackson,  John  Q.  Adams,  Wm.  H. 
Crawford,  and  Hemy  Clay.  There  was, 
however,  no  choice  in  the  electoral  college, 
and  the  election  was  consequently  thrown 
into  the  House  of  Representatives.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Constitution  the  names  of  the 
three  highest  could  only  be  presented,  and 
these  were:  Jackson  99,  Adams  84,  and 
Crawford  41 ;  Mr.  Clay  having  received  only 


102 

37  electoral  votes.  The  majority  of  the 
'house  declared  for  Adams,  influenced,  it  was 
alleged,  by  Clay  and  his  supporters,  from 
unworthy  motives.  That  this  was  a  cal- 
umny on  that  illustrious  man  there  can  now 
be  little  doubt,  if  we  take  for  granted  the 
statement  of  his  pohtical  opponent.  Senator 
Benton.  He  says,  in  his  ^^  Thirty  Years^ 
View": 

'''  It  came  within  my  knowledge  (for  I 
was  then  intimate  with  Mr.  Clay),  long  be- 
fore the  election,  and  probably  before  Mr. 
Adams  knew  it  himself,  that  Mr.  Clay  in- 
tended to  support  him  against  General 
Jackson;  and  for  the  reasons  afterward 
averred  in  his  public  speeches.  I  made 
this  known  when  occasions  required  me  to 
speak  of  it,  and  in  the  presence  of  the 
friends  of  the  impugned  pai'ties.  It  went 
into  the  newspapers  upon  the  information 
of  these  friends,  and  Mr.  Clay  made  me  ac- 
knowledgments for  it  in  a  letter,  of  which 
this  is  the  exact  copy  : 

^'I  have  received  a  paper  published  on 
the  20th  ultimo,  at  Lemington,  in  Virginia, 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  103 

in  which  is  contained  an  article  stating  that 
you  had,  to  a  gentleman  of  that  place,  ex- 
pressed your  disbelief  of  a  charge  injurious 
to  me,  touching  the  late  presidential  election, 
and  that  I  had  communicated  to  you  une- 
quivocally, before  the  15th  of  December, 
1824,  my  determination  to  vote  for  Mr. 
Adams  and  not  for  General  Jackson.  Pre- 
suming that  the  publication  was  with  your 
authority,  I  cannot  deny  the  expression  of 
proper  acknowledgments  for  the  sense  of 
justice  which  has  prompted  you  to  render 
this  voluntary  and  faithful  testimony." 

If  there  had  been  any  corrupt  dealing 
between  Adams  and  Clay  to  defeat  Jackson 
he  was  fully  avenged  dm'ing  the  next 
presidential  contest,  when  he  was  elected 
over  his  former  successful  rival  by  a  vote 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  to 
eighty-three ;  John  C.  Calhoun  being  also 
chosen  Vice-President  by  a  little  less  major- 
ity. He  was  accordingly  inaugurated  on 
the  4th  of  March  in  the  year  following,  the 
oath  of  office  being  administered  by  Chief- 
Justice   Marshall.     His  cabinet  was   com- 


104  irishmen's  sons. 

posed  of  Martin  Van  Buren  (N.  Y.),  Secre- 
tary of  State  ;  Samuel  D.  Ingliam  (Penn.), 
of  tlie  Treasury;  John  H.  Eaton  (Tenn.), 
at  War;  John  Branch  (N.  C),  of  the  Navy ; 
John  M.  Berrien  (Ga.),  Attorney-General ; 
Wm.  T.  Barry  (Ky.),  Postmaster- General. 
The  Senate — which  at  this  time  consisted 
of  forty-eight  members,  presented  on  its 
rolls  some  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  country, 
such  as  Webster,  Benton,  Grundy,  Living- 
ston, Foot,  and  Tyler — were  opposed  to 
the  political  views  of  the  new  President,  in 
the  proportion  of  about  three  to  two,  while 
the  popular  branch  of  Congress  was  largely 
in  his  favor. 

His  first  annual  message,  delivered  De- 
cember 8th,  though  perhaps  not  altogether 
his  own  composition,  at  all  events  not  un- 
inspired by  his  political  advisers,  was  yet 
replete  with  his  spirit,  and  ominous  of  the 
important  questions  which  were  destined  to 
agitate  the  country  for  many  years  after  their 
utterance.  He  took  what  has  been  called 
strong  '^  democratic  ground,"  and  for  the 
first  time  enunciated  from  the  presidential 


ANDEEW   JACKSON.  105 

chair  those  peculiar  views  which  have  since 
been  entertained  by  one  of  the  two  great  par- 
ties that  divide  the  country.  In  this  respect 
Jackson  may  well  be  styled  the  Father  of 
the  Democratic  party.  He  also  recom- 
mended the  reduction  of  the  army  and  navy, 
and  broke  ground  against  the  United  States 
Bank;  a  fortress  which,  after  many  desper- 
ate assaults,  he  finally  succeeded  in  captur- 
ing. His  fii'st  attack  on  that  institution  was 
couched  in  the  following"  simificant  terms : 
^'  The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  expires  in  1836,  and  its  stockholders 
will  most  probably  apply  for  a  renewal  of 
their  privileges.  In  order  to  avoid  the  evils 
resulting  from  precipitancy  in  a  measure 
involving  such  important  principles,  and 
such  deep  pecuniary  interests,  I  feel  that  I 
cannot,  in  justice  to  the  parties  interested,  too 
soon  present  it  to  the  deliberate  consideration 
the  legislature  and  the  people.  Both  the 
constitutionality  and  the  expediency  of 
the  law  creating  this  bank,  are  well  ques- 
tioned by  a  large  portion  of  our  fellow- 
citizens;    and  it  must  be  admitted  by  all, 


106  irishmen's  sons. 

that  it  has  failed  in  the  great  end  of  estab- 
lishing a  uniform  and  sound  cun^ency." 

The  first  year  of  Jackson's  term  was  not 
marked  by  any  important  event,  foreign  or 
domestic,  except  the  removal  of  some  promi- 
nent office-holders  and  the  appointment  of 
persons  more  in  accord  with  his  political 
views,  to  fill  their  places.  And  here  let  it 
be  remarked  that  the  popular  notion  that 
he  was  the  originator  of  the  policy  of  *'  to 
the  victors  belong  the  spoils"  is  utterly 
without  foundation.  His  removals  for  po- 
litical reasons,  in  point  of  fact,  were  less 
numerous  than  those  of  many  of  his  prede- 
cessors, and  far  less  than  these  of  every 
one  who  succeeded  him  in  the  presidency. 

His  second  year  was  distinguished  by  a 
treaty  negotiation  with  Great  Britain,  by 
which  unobstructed  trade  with  her  West 
India  colonies,  lost  by  the  Revolution,  was 
restored.  Free  commercial  intercourse  with 
those  islands  was  very  desirable ;  and  at- 
tempts had  been  made  by  every  president, 
from  Wasliington  down,  to  obtain  it  by 
negt)tiation,  but  had  failed,  till  our  minister. 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  107 

Mr.  Van  Buren,  acting  under  the  direction 
of  the  President,  succeeded.  An  act  of 
Congress  was  passed  May  29th,  1830,  to 
open  the  ports  of  the  United  States  to  vessels 
of  Great  Britain,  on  condition  of  her  remov- 
ing all  restraints  on  the  West  India  traffic, 
which,  with  the  President's  proclamation  of 
October  5th,  giving  it  effect,  afforded  general 
satisfaction  to  the  mercantile  community. 
*'The  loss  of  this  trade,"  says  Mr.  Benton, 
"was  a  great  injury  to  the  United  States 
(besides  the  insult),  and  was  attended  by 
circumstances  which  gave  it  the  air  of 
punishment  for  something  that  was  past. 
It  was  a  rebuff  in  the  face  of  Europe ;  for, 
while  the  United  States  were  sternly  and 
unceremoniously  cut  off  from  the  benefit  of 
the  act  of  1825,  for  omission  to  accept  it 
within  the  year,  yet  other  powers  in  the  same 
predicament  (France,  Spain,  and  Russia) 
were  permitted  to  accept  after  the  year;  and 
the  "  irritated  feelings"  manifested  by  Mr. 
Huskisson  indicated  a  resentment  which 
was  finding  its  gratification.  We  were  iU- 
treated,  and  felt  it.     The  people  felt  it.     It 


108  irishmen's  sons. 

was  an  ugly  case  to  manage,  or  to  endure ; 
and  in  this  period  of  its  worst  aspect  Gen- 
eral Jackson  was  elected  President." 

In  1831,  the  rupture  between  the  Presi- 
dent and  Mr.  Calhoun,  alluded  to  above, 
took  place,  and  was  productive,  at  the  time, 
of  much  personal  feeling  as  well  as  fraught 
with  lasting  consequences  injm-ious  alike 
to  their  party  and  the  country.  It  was 
commenced  by  the  latter,  who,  in  March  of 
that  year,  accused  Mr.  Van  Buren  of  having 
endeavored  to  create  dissensions  between 
the  two  highest  executive  officers  of  the 
government.  The  whole  subject  arose  out 
of  the  invasion  of  Florida  and  the  conduct 
of  Mr.  Calhoun  when  Secretary  at  War  at 
that  time.  We  have  seen  that  he  had  or- 
dered General  Jackson  to  prosecute  and 
end  the  war  as  he  saw  fit ;  but  afterwards,  it 
seems,  in  secret  cabinet  meeting,  condemned 
his  method  and  suggested  his  punishment. 
This,  of  course,  was  unknown  for  many 
years  to  Jackson,  who  looked  on  Calhoun 
as  his  best  and  most  respected  friend,  and 
the  latter  certainly  gave  him  every  reason 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  109 

to  think  so.  It  was  only  about  two  years 
after  their  election  on  the  same  ticket  that 
Jackson  discovered  the  base  deception  that 
had  been  practised  on  him,  and,  with  that 
abhorrence  of  duplicity  which  characterized 
him,  he  discontinued  all  personal  intercourse 
with  the  vice-president.  Henceforward  Cal- 
houn, in  and  out  of  Congress,  was  his  most 
bitter  enemy.  Van  Buren,  though  an  inno- 
cent party  to  the  quarrel,  nevertheless  felt 
called  on  to  resign  his  position  as  Secretary 
of  State,  and  was  shortly  after  appointed 
minister  to  England.  This  led  necessarily 
to  the  breaking  up  of  the  cabinet  and  the 
formation  of  a  new  one,  whose  views  were 
more  in  harmony  with  the  chief  executive. 
The  new  Secretaries  were:  Edward  Liv- 
ingston (La.),  of  State;  Louis  McLane 
(Del.),  of  the  Treasury;  Louis  Cass  (Mich.), 
at  War;  Levi  Woodbury  (N.  H.),  of  the 
Navy;  Amos  Kendall  (Ky.),  Postmaster- 
General  ;  Roger  Brooke  Taney  (Md.),  At- 
torney-General. 

The  twenty-second  Congress  commenced 
its  first  session  on  the  5th  of  December, 


110  irishmen's  sons. 

1831,  and  was  protracted  far  into  the  mid- 
dle of  the  following  summer,  during  which 
questions  of  the  most  vital  importance,  par- 
ticularly on  finance,  were  discussed  in  both 
houses,  to  which  the  message  gave  the  key- 
note. The  condition  and  existence  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  was  specially 
alluded  to  thus:  '^  Entertaining  the  opin- 
ions heretofore  expressed  in  relation  to  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  at  present 
organized,  I  felt  it  my  duty,  in  my  former 
messages,  ffankly  to  disclose  them,  in  order 
that  the  attention  of  the  legislature  and  the 
people  should  be  seasonably  directed  to 
that  important  subject,  and  that  it  might  be 
considered  and  finally  disposed  of  in  a 
manner  best  calculated  to  promote  the  ends 
of  the  constitution,  and  subserve  the  public 
interests.  Having  thus  conscientiously 
discharged  a  constitutional  duty,  I  deem  it 
proper,  on  this  occasion,  without  a  more 
particular  reference  to  the  views  of  the 
subject  then  expressed,  to  leave  it,  for  the 
present,  to  the  investigation  of  an  enlight- 
ened people  and  their  representatives." 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  Ill 

This  institution  was  chartered  in  1816, 
soon,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  in- 
tended to  reheve  the  money  pressure  and 
disarranged  financial  condition  of  the  coun- 
try, consequent  on  that  strruggle.  It  had, 
however,  it  was  claimed  by  its  opponents, 
failed  to  effect  the  desired  objects,  and  in- 
stead of  proving  a  blessing  to  the  manufac- 
tm'ing,  commercial,  and  agricultural  inter- 
ests of  the  country,  it  grew  into  an  oppres- 
sive monopoly,  controlling,  by  its  six 
branches  in  various  States,  the  smaller  and 
weaker  moneyed  concerns.  It  was  also  the 
depository  of  the  government  funds,  and,  it 
was  alleged  against  it,  used  them  for  the 
purpose  of  private  speculation.  To  its  friends 
in  Congress,  the  press,  and  elsewhere,  it  had 
been  liberal  of  discounts  and  loans,  and  not 
over-pai'ticular  as  to  the  security,  and  this, 
with  its  large  capital  and  extensive  ramifica- 
tions, made  it  a  real  power  in  the  land; 
which  was  thought  by  many,  and  not  with- 
out reason,  to  be  inimical  to  the  spirit  of 
Republican  institutions.  From  the  first. 
President  Jackson  resolved,  if  not  to  de- 


112  IRISHMEN'S    SONS. 

stroy  it,  at  least  to  curtail  its  immense  pro- 
portions. 

The  charter  of  the  bank  was  to  expire  by- 
limitation  in  1836,  but  on  the  9th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1832,  Mr.  Dallas  presented  a  memorial 
from  the  president  and  directors,  asking  for 
its  renewal  in  advance.  This  was  the  signal 
for  the  combat  between  its  friends  and 
enemies.  The  debates  which  arose  on  this 
subject  in  the  House  and  Senate  were  long, 
acrimonious,  and  replete  with  a  full  knowl- 
edge of  the  subject  in  all  its  bearings.  In 
the  Senate  Mr.  Webster  was  the  chief 
advocate  of  the  bank,  and  Mr.  Benton  the 
leading  opponent  of  the  renewal  of  its 
charter.  The  prayer  of  the  memorial,  how- 
ever, was  granted  by  that  body  by  a  vote  of 
twenty-eight  yeas  to  twenty  nays,  and  the 
bill  was  sent  to  the  House.  Here  the 
struggle  was  even  more  obstinate,  and,  if 
possible,  more  hotly  and  persistently  carried 
on,  for  its  success  or  failure  was  looked 
upon  as  a  party  defeat  or  triumph.  It  was 
at  length,  however,  carried  in  the  affirmative 
by  a  majority  of  twenty- two  out  of  an  entire 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  113 

vote  of  one  hundred  and  ninety.  The  bill 
was  then,  on  the  4th  of  Jnlj,  1832,  sent  to 
the  President  for  his  signature.  It  was  now 
Jackson's  turn  to  act,  and  he  did  so  with 
a  promptness  and  decision  all  his  own. 
Though  on  the  eve  of  another  presidential 
election,  and  knowing  full  well  that  to  pro- 
voke the  hostility  of  the  monster  moneyed 
power  was  to  raise  up  against  himself  and 
his  party  a  most  active,  unscrupulous,  and 
indefatigable  enemy,  he  hesitated  not  a 
moment  in  his  course.  Six  days  after  the 
passage  of  the  bill,  he  returned  it,  with  his 
Veto.  The  reasons  for  this  decisive  step,  as 
given  by  the  President,  were  numerous  and 
cogent.  Some  were  of  a  local  gr  temporary 
nature,  and  therefore  not  worth  reproduc- 
tion at  this  day;  but  the  following,  as  they 
apply  to  all  times,  are  as  applicable  to  us  as 
to  our  ancestors. 

^' Every  monopoly,  and  all  exclusive  privi- 
leges, are  granted  at  the  expense  of  the 
public,  which  ought  to  receive  a  fair  equiva- 
lent. The  many  millions  which  this  act 
proposes  to  bestow  on  the  stockholders  of  the 


114  irishmen's  sons. 

existing  bank,  must  come,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, out  of  the  earnings  of  the  American 
people.  It  is  due  to  them,  therefore,  if 
their  government  sell  monopolies  and  ex- 
clusive privileges,  that  they  should  at  least 
exact  for  them  as  much  as  they  are  worth 
in  open  market.  The  value  of  the  monopoly 
in  this  case  may  be  correctly  ascertained. 
The  twenty-eight  millions  of  stock  would 
probably  be  at  an  advance  of  fifty  per  cent., 
and  command,  in  market,  at  least  forty-two 
millions  of  dollars,  subject  to  the  payment 
of  the  present  loans.  The  present  value  of 
the  monopoly,  therefore,  is  seventeen  millions 
of  dollars,  and  this  the  act  proposes  to  sell 
for  three  millions,  payable  in  fifteen  annual 
instalments  of  $200,000  each. 

^'  It  is  not  conceivable  how  the  present 
stockholders  can  have  any  claim  to  the 
special  favor  of  the  government.  The  pres- 
ent corporation  has  enjoyed  its  monopoly 
dm'ing  the  period  stipulated  in  the  original 
contract.  If  we  must  have  such  a  corpora- 
tion, why  should  not  the  government  sell 
out  the  whole  stock,  and  thus  secure  to  the 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  115 

people  the  full  market  value  of  the  privi- 
leges granted?  Why  should  not  Congress 
create  and  sell  the  twenty-eight  millions  of 
stock,  incorporating  the  purchasers  with  all 
the  powers  and  privileges  secured  in  this 
act,  and  putting  the  premium  upon  the  sales 
into  the  treasury  |        •         •         •         • 

^'  But  this  proposition,  although  made  by 
men  whose  aggregate  wealth  is  believed  to 
be  equal  to  all  the  private  stock  in  the  ex- 
isting bank,  has  been  set  aside,  and  the 
bounty  of  our  government  is  proposed  to  be 
again  bestowed  on  the  few  who  have  been 
fortunate  enough  to  secure  the  stock,  and 
at  this  moment  wield  the  power  of  the  ex- 
isting institution.  I  cannot  perceive  the 
justice  or  policy  of  this  course.  If  our  gov- 
ernment must  sell  monopolies,  it  would  seem 
to  be  its  duty  to  take  nothing  less  than  their 
full  value ;  and  if  gratuities  must  be  made 
once  in  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  let  them  not 
be  bestowed  on  the  subjects  of  a  foreign 
government,  nor  upon  a  designated  or 
favored  class  of  men  in  our  own  country. 
It  is  but  justice  and  good  policy,  as  far  as 


116  irishmen's  sons. 

the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit,  to  confine 
onr  favors  to  our  own  fellow-citizens,  and 
let  each  in  his  turn  enjoy  an  opportunity  to 
profit  by  our  bounty.  In  the  bearings  of 
the  act  before  me  upon  these  points,  I  find 
ample  reason  why  it  should  not  become  a 
law." 

The  veto  was  sustained,  the  bank  and  its 
defenders  were  defeated,  and  the  press, 
throughout  the  country  hostile  to  the  Presi- 
dent, commenced  a  campaign  of  abuse, 
ridicule,  misrepresentation,  and  calumny 
against  its  author  which  lasted  not  only 
during  his  second  term  but  long  after  the 
organization  sought  to  be  perpetuated,  had 
ceased  to  exist. 

Another  question  of  great  importance 
upon  which  President  Jackson  held  decided 
opinions  was  a  Protective  Tariff.  Of  course 
he  was  ao-ainst  it,  and  his  views  Avere  ablv 
elucidated  in  the  Senate  by  such  men  as 
Benton  and  Hayne  of  South  Carolina,  while 
they  were  opposed  by  Webster,  Clay,  and 
Dallas.  In  1832,  a  debate  occurred  on  this 
yet  unsettled  question,  in  which  Clay  took 


ANDKEW   JACKSON.  117 

the  leading  part,  and  in  the  coui'se  of  a  long 
and  very  profound  speech  summed  up  the 
policy  of  the  protectionist  party  of  that  day 
in  the  following  terms : 

"1.  That  the  policy  which  we  have 
been  considering  ought  to  continue  to  be 
regarded  as  the  genuine  American  system. 

^'2.  That  the  free  trade  system,  which  is 
proposed  as  its  substitute,  ought  really  to  be 
considered  as  the  British  colonial  system. 

"  3.  That  the  American  system  is  bene- 
ficial to  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  much  the  larger  por- 
tion. 

"  4.  That  the  price  of  the  great  staple  of 
cotton,  and  of  all  our  chief  productions  of 
agriculture,  has  been  sustained  and  upheld, 
and  a  decline  averted,  by  the  protective 
system. 

"5.  That,  if  the  foreign  demand  for  cotton 
has  been  at  all  diminished  by  the  operation 
of  that  system,  the  diminution  has  been 
more  than  compensated  in  the  additional 
demand  created  at  home. 

^'6.  That  the  constant  tendency  of  the 


118  irishmen's  sons. 

system,  by  creating  competition  among 
ourselves,  and  between  American  and 
European  industry,  reciprocally  acting 
upon  each  other,  is  to  reduce  prices  of 
manufactured  objects. 

^'7.  That,  in  point  of  fact,  objects  within 
the  scope  of  the  policy  of  protection  have 
greatly  fallen  in  price. 

^'8.  That  if,  in  a  season  of  peace,  these 
benefits  are  experienced,  in  a  season  of  war, 
when  the  foreign  supply  might  be  cut  off, 
they  would  be  much  more  extensively  felt. 

*^9.  And,  finally,  that  the  substitution  of 
the  British  colonial  system  for  the  American 
system,  without  benefiting  any  section  of 
the  Union,  by  subjecting  us  to  a  foreign 
legislation,  regulated  by  foreign  interests, 
would  lead  to  the  prostration  of  our  manu- 
factures, general  impoverishment,  and  ulti- 
mate ruin." 

Another  presidential  election  took  place  in 
November,  1832.  The  candidates  of  the 
Democracy  were  Andrew  Jackson  and 
Martin  Van  Buren ;  of  the  Whig  party 
Henry   Clay    and    John    Sergeant.     The 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  119 

former  received  each  two  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  votes,  to  forty-nine  for  their 
opponents.  Jackson's  policy  was  there- 
fore triumphant.  The  country  was  over- 
whelming democratic,  and  he  entered  on 
his  second  tenn  with  renewed  vigor  and 
vastly  increased  popular  support.  Still  the 
Senate,  which  from  its  construction  is  slower 
to  feel  the  effects  of  a  change  in  public 
opinion  than  any  other  branch  of  the  gov- 
ernment, was  against  him,  while  the  House 
was  even  more  strongly  in  his  favor.  Un- 
der the  circumstances,  however,  this  divis- 
ion of  opinion  was  a  source  of  security  to 
the  country ;  checking  as  it  did,  the  impet- 
uosity or  heedlessness  of  the  executive  and 
coordinate  branch  of  the  legislative  au- 
thority, and  affords  another  proof,  if  any 
additional  were  wanting,  of  the  wisdom 
and  forethought  of  the  founders  of  the 
Republic. 

In  the  annual  message  immediately  after 
his  reelection,  among  other  things,  the  Presi- 
dent, with  a  modest  but  just  pride,  spoke  of 
his  past  administration  thus : 


120  irishmen's  sons. 

"  I  cannot  too  cordially  congratulate  Con- 
gress and  my  fellow-citizens  on  the  near 
approach  of  that  memorable  and  happy 
event,  the  extinction  of  the  public  debt  of 
this  great  and  free  nation.  Faithful  to  the 
wise  and  patriotic  policy  marked  out  by 
the  legislation  of  the  country  for  this  object, 
the  present  administration  has  devoted  to  it 
all  the  means  which  a  flourishing  commerce 
has  supplied,  and  a  prudent  economy  pre- 
served, for  the  public  treasury.  Within  the 
four  years  for  which  the  people  have 
confided  the  executive  power  to  my  charge, 
fifty-eight  millions  of  dollars  will  have  been 
applied  to  the  payment  of  the  public  debt. 
That  this  has  been  accomplished  without 
stinting  the  expenditures  for  all  other  proper 
objects,  will  be  seen  by  referring  to  the 
liberal  provision  made,  during  the  same 
period,  for  the  support  and  increase  of  our 
means  of  maritime  and  military  defence,  for 
internal  improvements  of  a  national  charac- 
ter, for  the  removal  and  preservation  of 
the  Indians,  and,  lastly,  for  the  gallant 
veterans  of  the  Revolution." 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  121 

On  the  subject  of  protection  lie  was  of 
opinion  that "  those  who  take  an  enlarged 
view  of  the  condition  of  our  country,  must 
be  satisfied  that  the  policy  of  protection 
nuist  be  ultimately  limited  to  those  articles 
of  domestic  manufacture  which  are  indis- 
pensable to  our  safety  in  time  of  war." 
Eeferring  to  the  position  of  the  public  lands 
he  declared  that  the  true  policy  was,  that 
they  should  cease,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to 
be  a  source  of  revenue,  but  that  they 
should  be  sold  to  actual  settlers  in  limited 
quantities,  at  a  price  only  sufficient  to  re- 
imburse the  United  States  for  the  cost  of 
surveys,  Indian  compacts,  etc.  He  also 
expressed  himself  in  favor  of  the  speedy 
removal  of  the  Indians  from  Georgia,  and 
their  settlement  beyond  the  Mississippi. 
But  the  message  contained  two  passages  of 
far  greater  imjDOii:  than  any  of  the  pre- 
ceding; one  relating  to  the  United  States 
Bank  and  the  other  to  the  new  political 
heresy  of  States  Rights  or  nullification. 

His  veto  of  the  act  re- chartering  the  bank, 
as  we  have  seen,  created  the  most  profound 


122  IRISHMEN'S    SONS. 

dissatisfaction  among  its  friends,  and  during 
the  presidential  campaign  that  followed 
thej  used  every  expedient  and  every  means 
that  human  ingenuity  could  devise,  to 
oppose  his  reelection.  All  the  moneyed 
power  of  the  corporation  itself,  as  well  as 
the  personal  influence  of  its  directors,  stock- 
holders, and  employes,  was  directed  to 
that  sole  end  during  the  autumn  of  1832. 
Newspapers  were  subsidized,  pamphlet- 
eers employed,  and  so-called  orators  liired 
in  every  part  of  the  country,  for  the  single 
purpose  of  misrepresenting  his  actions  and 
blackening  his  private  and  public  character. 
All  the  machinery  of  political  warfare  was 
set  in  motion  against  him  and,  too  often,  in 
the  most  outrageous  and  unjustifiable  man- 
ner. He  w^as  openly,  repeatedly,  and  at 
every  point,  accused  of  every  sin  in  the 
Table,  and  if  it  were  possible  to  have  in- 
vented a  new  crime  at  that  time,  he  would, 
no  doubt,  have  been  denounced  as  the  first 
criminal.  But  the  verdict  of  his  fellow-citi- 
zens, so  absolutely  pronounced,  was  unmis- 
takably in  his  favor ;  and,  with  additional 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  123 

reasons  for  the  repression  of  a  coip oration 
that  could  use  its  power  so  basely,  he  thus 
alludes  to  it  in  his  message : 

''  Such  measures  as  are  within  the  reach 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  have  been 
taken,  to  enable  him  to  judge  whether  the 
public  deposits  in  that  institution  may  be 
regarded  as  entirely  safe  ;  but  as  his  limited 
power  may  prove  inadequate  to  this  object, 
I  recommend  the  subject  to  the  attention  of 
Congress,  under  the  firm  belief  that  it  is 
worthy  then*  serious  investigation.  An  in- 
quiry into  the  transactions  of  the  institution, 
embracing  the  branches  as  well  as  the 
principal  bank,  seems  called  for  by  the 
credit  which  is  given  throughout  the  country 
to  many  serious  charges  impeaching  its 
character,  and  which,  if  true,  may  justly 
excite  the  apprehension  that  it  is  no  longer 
a  safe  depository  of  the  money  of  the  peo- 
ple." 

The  other  matter  referred  to  in  this  im- 
portant document  was  one  that  had  lately 
presented  itself  in  a  new  and  menacing  form 
to  the  public,  and  which  has  almost  as  much 


124  irishmen's  sons. 

interest  for  tins  generation  as  for.  tlie  past. 
South  Carolina,  ever  an  unruly  sister  in  the 
family  of  States,  not  content  with  opposing 
a  protective  tariff  by  her  representatives  in 
Congress,  proceeded  to  organize  a  practical 
opposition  to  the  collection  of  revenue  in 
her  ports,  or  in  other  words,  to  nullify  the 
laws  of  the  Union.  In  allusion  to  this  illegal 
manifestation  the  President  said  : 

^'It  is  my  painful  duty  to  state,  that,  in 
one  quarter  of  the  United  States,  opposition 
to  the  revenue  laws  has  risen  to  a  height 
which  threatens  to  thwart  their  execution,  if 
not  to  endanger  the  integrity  of  the  Union. 
Whatever  obstructions  may  be  thrown  in 
the  way  of  the  judicial  authorities  of  the 
general  government,  it  is  hoped  they  will  be 
able,  peaceably,  to  overcome  them  by  the 
prudence  of  their  own  officers,  and  the 
pati'iotism  of  the  people.  But  should  this 
reasonable  reliance  on  the  moderation  and 
good  sense  of  all  portions  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  be  disappointed,  it  is  believed  that  the 
laws  themselves  are  fully  adequate  to  the 
suppression   of  such   attempts  as  may  be 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  125 

immediately  made.  Should  the  exigency 
arise,  rendering  the  execution  of  the  existing 
laws  impracticable,  from  any  cause  what- 
ever, prompt  notice  of  it  will  be  given  to 
Congress,  with  the  suggestion  of  such  views 
and  measures  as  may  be  deemed  necessary 
to  meet  it." 

For  Andrew  Jackson  these  were  very 
mild  w^ords  indeed,  but  they  were  not 
heeded.  Previously,  however,  to  this  mes- 
sage of  November  24th,  1832,  South  Caro- 
lina, having  first  declined  all  participation 
in  the  presidential  contest,  issued  a  mani- 
festo entitled  ''An  ordinance  to  nullify 
certain  acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  purporting  to  be  laws  laying  duties 
and  imposts  on  the  importations  of  foreign 
commodities."  The  following  is  a  fair  sam- 
ple of  this  extraordinary  pronimciamiento  : 

''We,  therefore,  the  people  of  the  State 
of  South  Carolina,  in  convention  assembled, 
do  declare  and  ordain,  and  it  is  hereby  de- 
clared and  ordained,  that  the  several  acts 
and  parts  of  acts  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  purporting  to  be  laws  for 


126  irishmen's  sons. 

the  imposing  of  duties  and  imposts  on  the 
importation  of  foreign  commodities,  and 
now  having  actual  operation  and  effect 
within  the  United  States,  and  more  especi- 
ally, an  act  entitled  'An  act  in  alteration 
of  the  several  acts  imposing  duties  on  im- 
ports,' approved  on  the  nineteenth  day  of 
May,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
twenty^  eight,  and  also  an  act  entitled  '  An 
act  to  alter  and  amend  the  several  acts  im- 
posing duties  on  imports,'  approved  on  the 
fourteenth  day  of  July,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  thu'ty-two,  are  unauthorized  by 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
violate  the  true  meaning  and  intent  thereof, 
and  are  null,  void,  and  no  law,  nor  binding 
upon  this  State,  its  officers  or  citizens  ;  and 
all  promises,  contracts,  and  obligations, 
made  or  entered  into,  or  to  be  made  or 
entered  into,  with  purpose  to  secure  the 
duties  imposed  by  the  said  acts,  and  all 
judicial  proceedings  which  shall  be  here- 
after had  in  affinnance  thereof,  are  and 
shall  be  held  utterly  null  and  void." 

To  all  this  and  much  more  of  the  same 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  127 

character,  President  Jackson  replied  at 
gi'eat  length  in  a  proclamation  of  remarka- 
ble temper,  force,  clarity  of  reason,  and  pro- 
found knowledge  of  the  nature  and  spirit  of 
our  institutions,  and  the  relation  between  a 
State  and  the  Federal  Government.  He 
concluded  that  remarkable  state  paper  in 
the  following  language,  which  should  be 
read  and  re-read  by  every  citizen  of  this 
Republic : 

'^I  adjure  you,  as  you  honor  their 
memory ;  as  you  love  the  cause  of  freedom, 
to  which  they  dedicated  their  lives  ;  as  you 
prize  the  peace  of  your  country,  the  lives 
of  its  best  citizens,  and  your  own  fair  fame, 
to  retrace  your  steps.  Snatch  from  the 
archives  of  your  State  the  disorganizing 
edict  of  its  convention ;  bid  its  members  to 
reassemble,  and  promulgate  the  decided 
expressions  of  your  will  to  remain  in  the 
path  which  alone  can  conduct  you  to  safety, 
prosperity,  and  honor.  Tell  them  that, 
compared  to  disunion,  all  other  evils  are 
light,  because  that  brings  with  it  an  accu- 
mulation  of    all.     Declare  that   you   will 


128  ieishmen's  sons. 

never  take  the  field  unless  the  star-spangled 
banner  of  your  country  shall  float  over 
you ;  that  you  will  not  be  stigmatized  when 
dead,  and  dishonored  and  scorned  while  you 
live,  as  the  authors  of  the  fii'st  attack  on 
the  constitution  of  your  country.  Its  de- 
stroyers you  cannot  be.  You  may  disturb 
its  peace,  you  may  interrupt  the  course  of 
its  prosperity,  you  may  cloud  its  reputation 
for  stability,  but  its  tranquillity  will  be  re- 
stored, its  prosperity  will  return,  and  the 
stain  upon  its  national  character  will  be 
transferred,  and  remain  an  eternal  blot  on  the 
memory  of  those  who  caused  the  disorder. 
"  Fellow-citizens  of  the  United  States, 
the  threat  of  unhallowed  disunion,  the  names 
of  those,  once  respected,  by  whom  it  is 
uttered,  the  array  of  military  force  to  sup- 
port it,  denote  the  approach  of  a  crisis  in 
our  aifairs,  on  which  the  continuance  of 
our  unexampled  prosperity,  our  political 
existence,  and  perhaps  that  of  all  free 
governments,  may  depend.  The  conjunc- 
tm-e  demanded  a  free,  a  full,  and  explicit 
enunciation,  not  only  of  my  intentions,  but 


i 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  129 

of  my  principles  of  action ;  and,  as  tlie  claim 
was  asserted  of  a  right  by  a  State  to  annul 
the  laws  of  tlie  Union,  and  even  to  secede 
from  it  at  pleasure,  a  frank  exposition  of 
my  opinions  in  relation  to  the  origin  and 
form  of  our  government,  and  the  construc- 
tion I  give  to  the  instrument  by  which  it 
was  created,  seemed  to  be  proper.  Having 
the  fullest  confidence  in  the  justness  of  the 
legal  and  constitutional  opinion  of  my  duties, 
which  has  been  expressed,  I  rely,  with 
equal  confidence,  on  your  undivided  sup- 
port in  my  determination  to  execute  the 
laws,  to  preserve  the  Union  by  all  consti- 
tutional means,  to  arrest,  if  possible,  by 
moderate,  but  firm  measures,  the  necessity 
of  a  recom^'se  to  force ;  and,  if  it  be  the  will 
of  heaven  that  the  recm-rence  of  its  prime- 
val curse  on  man  for  the  shedding  of  a 
brother's  blood  should  fall  upon  our  land, 
that  it  be  not  called  down  by  any  offensive 
act  on  the  part  of  the  United  States." 

Early  in  January,  1833,  the  President  sent 
a  message  to  Congress  embodying  the  prin- 
ciples laid  down  in  his  proclamation,  and  in- 
5 


130  lEISro^IEN^S    SONS. 

forming  that  body  of  all  the  steps  taken  by 
the  nullifiers  of  South  Carolina.  He  asked 
for  additional  legislation,  and  expressed  "  his 
confident  reliance  upon  the  disposition  of 
each  department  of  the  government  to  per- 
form its  duty  and  to  cooperate  in  all  measures 
necessary  in  the  present  emergency,"  de- 
claring, at  the  same  time,  his  determina- 
tion to  preserve  ^'  the  integrity  of  the  Union  " 
and  to  execute  the  laws  by  all  constitu- 
tional means.  The  firm  attitude  thus  as- 
sumed by  Jackson  had  the  desired  effect, 
for  the  time  being  at  least,  and  the  Com- 
promise bill,  introduced  by  Mr.  Clay  in 
May,  and  passed  with  the  assistance  of 
Mr.  Calhoun,  gave  to  the  people  of  his 
fiery  State  a  decent  pretext  for  withdraw- 
ing from  a  position  no  longer  tenable.  Se- 
cession, however,  was  not  destroyed,  but 
postponed;  the  snake  was  scotched,  not 
killed,  as  we  of  this  day  know  to  our 
sorrow  and  cost. 

The  thirty-second  Congress  assembled  on 
the  2d  of  December,  1833,  and  received 
the  President's  messaere ;   the  first  since  he 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  131 

liacl  entered  on  his  second  term.  In  it  he 
alhided  to  the  prosperous  state  of  the  pubhc 
finances  and  to  other  matters  of  general  in- 
terest, but  the  sahent  point  was  still  the 
condition  of  the  United  States  Bank.  It 
now  became  evident  to  every  one  that  the 
war  between  the  Executive,  or  rather  the 
democratic  party,  and  that  institution,  was 
to  be  fought  to  the  bitter  end.  He  thus 
alludes  to  it : 

*'  Since  the  last  adjournment  of  Congress, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  directed 
the  money  of  the  United  States  to  be  de- 
posited in  certain  State  banks  designated 
by  him,  and  he  will  immediately  lay  before 
you  his  reasons  for  this  direction.  I  concui' 
with  him  entirely  in  the  view  he  has  taken 
of  the  subject;  and,  some  months  before 
the  removal,  I  urged  upon  the  department 
the  propriety  of  taking  that  step.  The  near 
approach  of  the  day  on  which  the  charter 
will  expire,  as  well  as  the  conduct  of  the 
bank,  appeared  to  me  to  call  for  this  meas- 
ure upon  the  high  considerations  of  public 
interest  and  public  duty.     The  extent  of  its 


132  irishmen's  sons. 

misconduct,  however,  although  known  to 
be  great,  was  not  at  that  time  fully  devel- 
oped by  proof.  It  was  not  until  late  in  the 
month  of  August,  that  I  received  from  the 
government  directors  an  official  report, 
establishing  beyond  question  that  this  great 
and  powerful  institution  had  been  actively 
engaged  in  attempting  to  influence  the  elec- 
tions of  the  pubHc  officers  by  means  of  its 
money."  The  news  of  the  removal  of  the 
government  deposits  was  made  subsequent- 
ly, in  a  communication  to  Congress  by  Mr. 
Taney,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

The  excitement  in  and  out  of  Congress 
caused  by  the  appearance  of  those  two  docu- 
ments was  intense.  In  the  Senate  the  oppo- 
sition were  led  by  Webster,  Clay,  and 
Calhoun ;  Benton,  as  usual,  leading  the 
democratic  forces.  Resolutions  of  con- 
demnation of  the  President's  course  in 
withdrawing  the  deposits  were  introduced, 
and,  after  a  protracted  and  able  debate, 
were  carried  by  twenty-six  yeas  to  twenty 
nays.  President  Jackson  replied  to  them 
in   a  ^^ protest"  marked  by  great   ability 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  133 

and  good  temper.  This  again  led  to 
some  violent  remarks  in  the  Senate,  and 
a  notice  of  motion  by  Benton  to  expunge 
the  objectionable  resolutions.  But  on  the 
suggestion  of  Mr.  Pointdexter  the  pro- 
test was  not  only  not  received  but  de- 
clared to  be  a  breach  of  the  privileges  of 
that  body. 

Such  was  the  temper  of  the  upper  house 
when  the  next  session  opened  in  December, 
1834.  After  alluding  to  the  French  spolia- 
tion difficulty,  and  declaring  the  country 
"free  from  public  debt,  at  peace  with  all 
the  world,  and  with  no  complicated  interests 
to  consult  in  our  intercourse  with  foreign 
powers,"  the  President  returned  with  re- 
newed vigor  to  the  attack  on  the  United 
States  Bank.  He  accused  it  of  causing  the 
confiscation  of  Si 70,041,  di\ddends  on  the 
public  stock,  and  of  creating  the  recent  com- 
mercial distress  by  "  locking  up  "  money  and 
refusing  to  discount  the  notes  of  mer- 
chants, or  accommodate,  as  was  the  former 
custom,  State  banks  and  other  like  moneyed 
institutions ;  and  concluded  by  saying : 


134 

^^  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  recommend  to  you 
that  a  law  be  passed  authorizing  the  sale  of 
the  public  stock ;  that  the  provision  of  the 
charter  requiring  the  receipt  of  notes  of  the 
bank  in  payment  of  public  dues,  shall,  in 
accordance  with  the  power  reserved  to  Con- 
gress in  the  14th  section  of  the  charter,  be 
suspended  until  the  bank  pays  to  the 
treasury  the  dividend  withheld ;  and  that 
all  laws  connecting  the  government  or  its 
officers  with  the  bank,  directly  or  indirectly, 
be  repealed;  and  that  the  institution  be 
left  hereafter  to  its  own  resources  and 
means." 

The  debates  on  the  French  Spoliation  bill, 
as  it  was  called,  occupied  the  greater 
portion  of  the  time  of  Congress  during 
this  session,  but  the  general  distress,  or  as 
we  would  now  call  it,  the  panic,  and  the 
affairs  of  the  bank,  were  the  prevailing  topics 
among  the  jDeople.  Indeed  so  thoroughly  was 
the  popular  mind  stirred  up  by  newspapers 
and  demagogues  that  men  seemed  driven  to 
frenzy.  The  President  himself  nearly  fell 
a  victim  to  this  insane  spirit.     On  the  30th 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  135 

of  Janiiaiy,  1835,  while  he  was  coming  out 
of  the  capitol,  attended  by  two  members  of 
the  cabinet,  he  was  confronted  by  a  man, 
who  evidently  had  been  lying  in  wait  for 
him,  and  who,  at  the  distance  of  eight  feet, 
deliberately  presented  a  pistol  to  his  face 
and  attempted  to  fire  it  off.  The  cap  only 
exploded,  and  the  would-be  asssasin  drew 
another  pistol,  but  with  like  result.  Jack- 
son, with  his  old  fire,  raised  his  cane  and 
rushed  on  the  miscreant,  but  before  he  could 
reach  him  the  man  was  knocked  down  by 
a  lieutenant  of  the  Navy  and  quickly  se- 
cured by  the  spectators.  He  proved  to 
be  an  Englishman  named  Lawrence,  and 
though  imprisoned,  escaped  any  adequate 
punishment,  on  the  plea  of  insanity.  The 
most  curious  circumstance  connected  with 
this  affau*  was,  that  the  pistols,  upon 
examination,  were  found  to  be  in  good  order 
and  were  easily  discharged  on  the  first 
attempt  to  do  so. 

At  this  session  also,  Mr.  King  of  Alabama 
presented  resolutions  of  tliat  State  requesting 
the  expunging  of  the  resolutions  of  censure 


136  irishmen's  sons. 

from  the  journal  of  the  Senate,  but  they 
were  laid  on  the  table  by  a  vote  of  twenty- 
seven  to  twenty.  Benton  also  introduced 
his  promised  resolution  to  the  same  effect, 
but  it  met  a  similar  fate. 

The  President's  message  to  the  twenty- 
fourth  Congress,  which  commenced  its  sit- 
tings in  December,  1835,  contained  noth- 
ing of  special  importance,  being  taken  up 
almost  wholly  by  discussions  on  om-  relations 
with  France,  and  some  domestic  questions 
of  minor  importance.  Only  a  passing  al- 
lusion is  made  to  the  United  States  bank, 
which  had  some  time  pre^dously  made  an 
assignment.  The  sad  condition  of  its  affau's 
then  became  apparent,  and  more  than  justifi- 
ed the  attacks  of  its  opponents. 

The  expunging  resolutions  were  again 
introduced  by  Benton,  but  defended,  and 
meanwhile  the  presidential  election  took 
place  which  resulted  in  the  election  of  Van 
Buren,  Jackson's  candidate  and  personal 
favorite,  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy,  to  seventy-three  for  Gen.  Han-ison 
and  twenty- six  for  Mr.   Hugh  L.   White. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  157 

This  in  itself  was  a  triumph  for  the  out- 
going president,  a  substantial  indorsement 
of  his  policy,  and  a  victory  for  his  party,  the 
fruits  of  which,  however,  were  thrown 
away  in  the  next  four  years,  when  the 
helm  of  the  ship  of  state  was  no  longer 
in  his  firm  grasp. 

The  last  message  of  the  venerable  presi- 
dent to  the  session  of  1836-'7,  was  altogether 
occupied  by  financial  matters  and  the  con- 
dition of  the  Indians,  and  was  only  re- 
markable for  its  plain,  touching,  and  even 
pathetic  peroration ;  when  the  great  states- 
man, having  reached  the  term  allotted  to 
man,  borne  down  by  the  weight  of  years  and 
long  and  faithful  services,  loaded  with 
honors  and  crowned  by  the  applause  of  mil- 
lions of  freemen,  was  about  to  relinquish  the 
authority  of  chief  magistrate  and,  descend- 
ing into  the  ranks  of  private  citizenship, 
to  await  in  composure  that  grand,  final  end, 
which  comes  alike  to  prince  and  peasant. 

^^  Having  now  finished,"  he  said,  "the 
observations  deemed  proper  on  this,  the 
the  last  occasion  I  shall  have  of  communi- 


138  ieishmen's  sons. 

eating  with  the  two  houses  of  Congress  at 
their  meeting,  I  cannot  omit  an  expression 
of  the  gratitude  which  is  due  to  the  great 
body  of  my  fellow-citizens,  in  whose  par- 
tiality and  indulgence  I  have  found  en- 
couragement and  support  in  the  many 
difficult  and  trying  scenes  through  which 
it  has  been  my  lot  to  pass  during  my  public 
career.  Though  deeply  sensible  that  my 
exertions  have  not  been  crowned  with  a 
success  corresponding  to  the  degree  of  favor 
bestowed  upon  me,  I  am  sure  that  they  will 
be  considered  as  having  been  directed  by 
an  earnest  desire  to  promote  the  good  of 
my  country;  and  I  am  consoled  by  the 
persuasion  that  whatever  errors  have  been 
committed  will  find  a  corrective  in  the  in- 
telligence and  patriotism  of  those  who  will 
succeed  us.  All  that  has  occurred  dm-ing 
my  administration  is  calculated  to  inspke 
me  with  increased  confidence  in  the  stability 
of  our  institutions,  and  should  I  be  spared 
to  enter  upon  that  retirement,  which  is  so 
suitable  to  my  age  and  infirm  health,  and 
so  much  desu^ed  by  me  in  other  respects,  I 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  139 

shall  not  cease  to  invoke  that  beneficent 
Being  to  whose  providence  we  are  already  so 
signally  indebted  for  the  continuance  of  his 
blessings  on  our  beloved  country," 

It  was  during  this  session  that  Benton 
again  introduced  his  expunging  resolutions, 
which,  after  a  long  and  exciting  forensic 
contest  in  which  that  distinguished  senator 
bore  more  than  the  lion's  share,  were  passed 
on  the  16th  of  March,  1837,  by  a  vote  of 
twenty-four  votes  for  the  measure  to  nine- 
teen against  it,  ^ve  members  being  absent 
The  great  majority  of  the  people  applauded 
the  act,  and  President  Andrew  Jackson, 
in  consequence,  retired  from  his  great 
office  and  laid  down  the  authority  which 
he  had  exercised  for  eight  years  without  a 
stain  on  his  private  or  public  character. 

Previous  to  retiring  into  private  life,  Jack- 
son, after  the  example  of  Washington, 
issued  an  address  to  the  American  people, 
full  of  fatherly  advice  and  patriotic  senti- 
ments, and  with  almost  prophetic  vision  he, 
amongst  other  things  said : 

"  What  have  you  to  gain  by  division  and 


140  irishmen's  sons. 

dissension?  Delude  not  yourselves  with  the 
belief,  that  a  breach,  once  made,  may  be 
afterwards  repaired.  If  the  Union  is  once 
severed,  the  line  of  separation  will  grow 
wider  and  wider;  and  the  controversies 
which  are  now  debated  and  settled  in  the 
halls  of  legislation,  will  then  be  tried  in 
fields  of  battle  and  determined  by  the 
sword.  Neither  should  you  deceive  your- 
selves with  the  hope  that  the  fii'st  hne  of 
separation  would  be  the  permanent  one, 
and  that  nothing  but  harmony  and  concord 
would  be  found  in  the  new  associations 
formed  upon  the  dissolution  of  this  Union. 
Local  interests  would  still  be  found  there, 
and  unchastened  ambition.  And  if  the  re- 
collection of  common  dangers,  in  which  the 
people  of  these  United  States  stood  side  by 
side  against  the  common  foe — the  memory 
of  victories  won  by  their  united  valor ;  the 
prosperity  and  happiness  they  have  enjoyed 
under  the  present  constitution ;  the  proud 
name  they  bear  as  citzens  of  this  great  re- 
public— if  all  these  recollections  and  proofs 
of  common  interest  are  not  strong  enough 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  141 

to  bind  US  together  as  one  people,  what  tie 
will  hold  united  the  new  divisions  of  empire, 
when  these  bonds  have  been  broken  and 
this  Union  dissevered?     The  first  line  of 
separation  would  not  last  for  a  single  gen- 
eration; new  fragments  would  be  torn  off; 
new  leaders  would  spring  up;  and  this  great 
and  glorious  republic  would  soon  be  broken 
into  a  multitude  of  petty  States,  without  com- 
merce, without  credit;  jealous  of  one  an- 
other; armed  for  mutual  aggressions;  loaded 
with  taxes  to  pay  armies  and  leaders ;  seek- 
ing, aid   against   each  other  from  foreign 
powers  ;  insulted  and  trampled  upon  by  the 
nations   of  Europe;    until,  harassed   with 
conflicts,    and   humbled    and    debased    in 
spirit,  they  would  be  ready  to  submit  to  the 
absolute  dominion  of  any  military  advent- 
urer, and  to  sm-render  their  liberty  for  the 
sake  of  repose.     It  is  impossible  to  look  on 
the  consequences  that  would  inevitably  fol- 
low the  destruction  of  this  government,  and 
not  feel  indignant  when  we  hear  cold  cal- 
culations about  the   value   of  the    Union, 
and  have  so  constantly  before  us  a  line  of 


142  irishmen's  sons. 

conduct  so  well  calculated  to  weaken   its 
ties." 

We  have  dwelt  more  at  length  on  Presi- 
dent Jackson's  domestic  policy,  because 
there  were  issues  involved  in  it,  some  of 
which,  though  settled,  had  a  direct  and  im- 
portant bearing  on  the  future  welfare  and 
prosperity  of  the  country ;  and  others  are 
still  subjects  of  discussion  between  the  two 
great  political  parties  who  claim  the  suf- 
frages of  the  people.  His  foreign  diplomacy, 
however,  was  almost  equally  important; 
was  conducted  in  his  wonted  straightfor- 
ward style ;  was  equally  successful,  and  had 
a  most  beneficial  result  on  the  recognition 
of  our  rights  as  a  nation  as  well  as  our  com- 
mercial interests  at  home  and  abroad.  We 
have  already  mentioned  his  opening  a  direct 
and  unrestricted  trade  with  the  British  West 
Indies ;  to  this  may  be  added  the  French 
indemnity  treaty,  by  which  our  citizens 
obtained  from  that  government  five  millions 
of  dollars  '^  for  unlawful  seizures,  captm-es, 
etc.,  of  their  vessels,  cargoes,  or  other  prop- 
erty ;"  the  Danish  treaty,  and  the  Neapolitan, 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  143 

Portuguese,  and  Spanish  indemnity  treaties, 
by  which  our  citizens'  claims  against  those 
countries,  so  long  in  dispute,  were  fully  and 
satisfactorily  settled.  The  history  of  the 
commercial  treaty  with  Eussia,  the  most 
important  of  all,  is  thus  briefly  sketched  by 
Mr.  Benton : 

"Up  to  the  commencement  of  General 
Jackson's  administration  there  was  no  Amer- 
ican treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and  naviga- 
tion with  that  great  power.     The  attention 
of  President  Jackson  was  early  directed  to 
this  anomalous  point ;    and  Mr.  John  Ean- 
dolph  of  Roanoke,  then  retired  from  Con- 
gress, was  induced,  by  the  earnest  persua- 
sions of  the  President,  and  his  Secretary  of 
State,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  to  accept  the  place 
of  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  pleni- 
potentiary to  the  Court  of  St.  Petersbui-g— 
to   renew  the  applications   for  the  treaty 
which   had   so  long   been   made  in   vain. 
Repairing  to  that  post,  Mr.  Randolph  found 
that  the  rigors  of  a  Russian  climate  were 
too  severe  for  the  textm-e  of  his  fragile  con- 
stitution ;  and  was  soon  recalled  at  his  own 


144  irishmen's  sons. 

request.  Mr.  James  Buchanan,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, was  then  appointed  in  his  place ; 
and  by  him  the  long-desu-ed  treaty  was 
concluded,  December,  1832 — the  Count 
Nesselrode,  the  Russian  negotiator,  and  the 
Emperor  Nicholas  the  reigning  sovereign. 
It  was  a  treaty  of  great  moment  to  the 
United  States ;  for,  although  it  added  noth- 
ing to  the  commercial  privileges  actually 
enjoyed,  yet  it  gave  stability  to  their  enjoy- 
ment; and  so  imparted  confidence  to  the 
enterprise  of  merchants.  It  was  limited  to 
seven  years'  duration,  but  with  a  clause  of 
indefinite  continuance,  subject  to  termina- 
tion upon  one  year's  notice  from  either  party. 
Near  twenty  years  have  elapsed :  no  notice 
for  its  termination  has  ever  been  given ;  and 
the  commerce  between  the  two  countries 
feels  all  the  advantages  resulting  from  stabil- 
ity and  national  guarantees.  And  thus  was 
obtained,  in  the  first  term  of  General  Jack- 
son's administration,  an  important  treaty 
with  a  great  power,  which  all  previous 
administrations  and  the  Congress  of  the 
Confederation  had  been  unable  to  obtain." 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  145 

The  treaty  of  friendship  and  commerce 
with  the  Ottoman  Porte,  ratified  in  1830-'l, 
was  next  in  importance.  By  the  terms  of 
this  agreement  our  trade  with  the  Turkish 
dominions  was  placed  on  the  footing  of  the 
most  favored  nation ;  and  being  without 
limitation  as  to  time,  may  be  considered  as 
perpetual,  subject  only  to  be  abrogated  by 
war,  in  itself  improbable,  or  by  other  events 
not  to  be  expected.  The  right  of  passing 
the  Dardanelles  and  of  navigating  the 
Black  Sea  was  secured  to  our  merchant 
ships,  in  ballast  or  with  cargo,  and  to  carry 
the  products  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
Ottoman  empire,  except  the  prohibited  arti- 
cles. The  flag  of  the  United  States  was 
to  be  respected.  Factors,  or  commercial 
brokers,  of  any  religion,  were  allowed  to  be 
employed  by  our  merchants.  Consuls 
were  placed  on  a  footing  of  security,  and 
travelling  with  passports  was  protected. 
Fairness  and  justice  in  suits  and  litigations 
were  provided  for.  In  questions  between  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  and  a  subject 
of  the  Sublime  Porte,  the  parties  were  not 


146  irishmen's  sons. 

to  be  heard,  nor  judgment  pronounced, 
unless  the  American  interpreter  was 
present.  In  questions  between  American 
citizens  the  trial  was  to  be  before  the  United 
States  minister  or  consul.  ''Even  when 
they  shall  have  committed  some  offence, 
they  shall  not  be  arrested  and  put  in  prison 
by  the  local  authorities,  but  shall  be  tried 
by  the  minister  or  consul,  and  punished 
according  to  the  offence."  All  that  was 
granted  to  other  nations  by  the  treaty  of 
Adrianople  was  also  granted  to  the  United 
States,  with  the  additional  stipulation,  to  be 
always  placed  on  the  footing  of  the  most 
favored  nation — a  stipulation  wholly  inde- 
pendent of  the  treaty  exacted  by  Russia 
at  Adrianople  as  the  fruit  of  victories,  and 
of  itself  equivalent  to  a  full  and  hberal  treaty; 
and  the  whole  guaranteed  by  a  particular 
treaty  with  ourselves,  which  make  us  inde- 
pendent of  the  general  treaty  of  Adi'ianople. 
Assistance  and  protection  were  to  he  given 
throughout  the  Turkish  dominions  to  Amer- 
ican wrecked  vessels  and  their  crews ;  and 
all  property  recovered  from  a  wreck  was 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  147 

to  be  delivered  up  to  the  American  consul 
of  the  nearest  port,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
owners.  Ships  of  war  of  the  two  countries 
were  to  exhibit  toward  each  other  friendly 
and  courteous  conduct,  and  Turkish  ships  of 
war  were  to  treat  American  merchant  vessels 
with  kindness  and  respect.  This  treaty  has 
now  been  in  force  a  number  of  years,  ob- 
served with  perfect  good  faith  by  each,  and 
attended  by  all  the  good  consequences  ex- 
pected from  it.  The  valuable  commerce  of 
the  Black  Sea,  and  of  all  the  Turkish  ports 
of  Asia  Minor,  Europe,  and  Africa,  travel- 
ling, residence,  and  the  pursuit  of  business 
throughout  the  Turkish  dominions,  are 
made  as  safe  to  our  citizens  as  in  any  of  the 
European  countries. 

To  these  may  be  added  treaties  of  com- 
merce and  amity  with  Morocco,  Siam,  and 
the  Sultan  of  Muscat,  all  of  which  contained 
conditions  favorable  to  our  merchants  and 
travellers,  and  placed  our  trade  with  those 
powers  on  a  most  satisfactory  footing. 

Having  thus  secured  to  the  Republic  a 
sound  and  permanent  position  among  the 


148  irishmen's  sons. 

family  of  civilized  and  even  semi-civilized 
nations,  opened  up  to  its  enterprise  and  in- 
dustry new  channels  of  wealth  and  new 
marts  for  the  sale  of  its  fabrics  and  produce 
abroad ;  having  at  home  relieved  the  coun- 
try from  a  load  of  debt,  crushed  the  monop- 
olists of  the  United  States  Bank,  settled  as 
far  as  possible  the  Indian  question,  re- 
pressed the  extravagant  expenditure  of  pub- 
lic money  for  unnecessary  improvements, 
stamped  out  secession,  and  modified  the 
tariff — the  United  States  respected  abroad 
and  on  the  high  road  to  prosperity — Presi- 
dent Jackson  on  the  4th  of  March  delivered 
the  insignia  of  his  high  office  into  the 
hands  of  his  successor  and,  turning  his  back 
on  the  capital  forever,  returned  to  his  be- 
loved Hermitage,  and  to  the  bosom  of  his 
friends  and  family. 

Eight  years  beyond  the  allotted  three- 
score and  ten  were  allowed  him  for  rest  and 
preparation  for  the  final  catastrophe.  It 
would  be  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  all 
this  time  was  spent  in  private  concerns  and 
social  communion  alone.     He  could  not,  if 


ANDEEW   JACKSON.  149 

he  would,  entirely  shut  out  the  world  of 
politics,  for  his  home  was,  as  it  were,  a 
temple  where  many  puzzled  or  aspiring 
politicians  repaired  to  consult  the  oracle.  It 
is  needless  to  say  that  their  reception  was 
always  cordial  and  their  visits  fraught  with 
good  and  wholesome  advice.  It  was  im- 
possible, though  no  longer  taking  an  active 
part  in  public  affairs,  that  he  should  not  feel 
deeply  interested  in  everything  that  con- 
cerned the  welfare  of  the  country  for  wliich 
he  had  so  long  and  so  zealously  toiled. 

At  length  his  end  drew  nigh,  and  found 
him,  according  to  the  light  that  was  given 
him,  fully  prepared  to  meet  it.  After  a 
short  illness,  and  surrounded  by  relatives 
and  neighbors,  he  expired  on  the  5th  day  of 
June,  1845. 

Of  his  services,  military  and  civil,  it  is 
almost  unnecessary  to  speak,  as  the  evi- 
dences of  them  are  so  indelibly  impressed 
on  the  history  of  the  Republic  that  the 
rude  changes  of  centuries  will  not  be  able 
to  efface  them.  A  brave,  humane,  and, 
though  untrained,  a  skilful  soldier,  he  un- 


150 

doubtedly  was,  but  it  is  as  a  statesman,  as 
the  embodiment  of  the  democracy  of  the 
New  World,  as  the  champion  of  popular 
rights  and  the  unswerving  foe  of  tyranny, 
bigotry,  and  oppression,  in  all  their  forms, 
he  will  be  best  remembered  and  revered  by 
posterity.  His  private  character  and  dis- 
position can  best  be  told  in  the  following 
words  of  one  who  knew  him  intimately 
for  nearly  half  a  century : 

''His  temper  was  placable  as  well  as  iras- 
cible, and  his  reconciliations  were  cordial 
and  sincere.  Of  that,  my  own  case  was  a 
signal  instance.  After  a  deadly  feud,  I  be- 
came his  confidential  adviser ;  was  offered 
the  highest  marks  of  his  favor,  and  received 
from  his  dying  bed  a  message  of  friendship, 
dictated  when  life  was  departing,  and  when 
he  would  have  to  pause  for  breath.  There 
was  a  deep-seated  vein  of  piety  in  him, 
unaffectedly  showing  itself  in  his  reverence 
for  di-\dne  worship,  respect  for  the  ministers 
of  the  Gospel,  their  hospitable  reception  in 
his  house,  and  constant  encouragement  of 
all  the  pious  tendencies  of  Mrs.  Jackson. 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  151 

And  when  they  both  afterwards  became 
members  of  a  church,  it  was  the  natm^al 
and  regular  result  of  their  early  and 
cherished  feelings.  He  was  gentle  in  his 
house,  and  alive  to  the  tenderest  emotions  ; 
and  of  this  I  can  give  an  instance,  greatly 
in  contrast  with  his  supposed  character,  and 
worth  more  than  a  long  discourse  in  show- 
ing what  that  character  really  was.  I 
arrived  at  his  house  one  wet,  chilly  evening 
in  February,  and  came  upon  him  in  the 
twilight,  sitting  alone  before  the  fire,  a  lamb 
and  a  child  between  his  knees.  He  started 
a  little,  called  a  servant  to  remove  the  two 
innocents  to  another  room,  and  explained 
to  me  how  it  was.  The  child  had  cried 
because  the  lamb  was  out  in  the  cold,  and 
begged  him  to  bring  it  in — which  he  had 
done  to  please  the  child,  his  adopted  son, 
then  not  two  years  old.  The  ferocious  man 
does  not  do  that !  and  though  Jackson  had 
his  passions  and  his  violence,  they  were  for 
men  and  enemies — those  who  stood  up  against 
him — and  not  for  women  and  children,  or 
the  weak  and  helpless:  for  all  whom  his 


152  irishmen's  sons. 

feelings  were  tliose  of  protection  and 
support.  His  hospitality  was  active  as  well 
as  cordial,  embracing  the  worthy  in  every 
walk  of  life,  and  seeking  out  deserving  ob- 
jects to  receive  it,  no  matter  how  obscm^e. 
Of  this  I  learned  a  characteristic  instance 
in  relation  to  the  son  of  the  famous  Daniel 
Boone.  The  young  man  had  come  to 
Nashville  on  his  father's  business,  to  be  de- 
tained some  weeks,  and  had  his  lodgings  at 
a  small  tavern,  toward  the  lower  part  of 
the  town.  General  Jackson  heard  of  it: 
sought  him  out ;  found  him ;  took  him 
home  to  remain  as  long  as  liis  business  de- 
tained him  in  the  country,  saying,  *  Your 
father's  dog  should  not  stay  in  a  tavern, 
where  I  have  a  house.'  This  was  heart ! 
and  I  had  it  from  the  young  man  himself, 
long  after,  when  he  was  a  State  Senator  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  Missouri,  and  as 
such  nominated  me  for  the  United  States 
Senate,  at  my  first  election,  in  1820:  an 
act  of  hereditary  friendship,  as  our  fathers 
had  been  early  friends. 

"  Abhorrence  of  debt,  public  and  private, 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  153 

dislike  of  banks,  and  love  of  hard  money, 
love  of  justice  and  love  of  country,  were 
ruling  passions  with  Jackson ;  and  of  these 
he  gave  constant  evidence  in  all  the  situa- 
tions of  his  life.  Of  private  debts  he  con- 
tracted none  of  his  own,  and  made  any  sac- 
rifices to  get  out  of  those  incurred  for  others. 
Of  this  he  gave  a  signal  instance,  not  long 
before  the  war  of  1812 — selling  the  im- 
proved part  of  his  estate,  with  the  best 
buildings  of  the  country  upon  it,  to  pay  a 
debt  incurred  in  a  mercantile  adventure  to 
assist  a  young  relative  ;  and  going  into  log- 
houses  in  the  forest  to  begin  a  new  home 
and  farm.  He  was  living  in  these  rude 
tenements  when  he  vanquished  the  British 
at  New  Orleans ;  and,  probably,  a  view  of 
their  conqueror's  domicile  would  have  as- 
tonished the  Biitish  officers  as  much  as 
their  defeat  had  done.  He  was  attached  to 
his  friends,  and  to  his  country,  and  never 
believed  any  report  to  the  discredit  of  either, 
until  compelled  by  proof  He  would  not 
believe  in  the  first  reports  of  the  surrender 
of  General  Hull,  and  became  sad  and  op- 


154  irishmen's  sons. 

pressed  when  forced  to  believe  it.  He 
never  gave  up  a  friend  in  a  doubtful  case, 
or  from  policy  or  calculation.  He  was  a 
firm  believer  in  the  goodness  of  a  superin- 
tending Providence,  and  in  the  eventual 
right  judgment  and  justice  of  the  people. 
I  have  seen  him  at  the  most  desperate  part 
of  his  fortunes,  and  never  saw  him  waver 
in  the  belief  that  all  would  come  right  in  the 
end.  In  the  time  of  Cromwell  he  would 
have  been  a  puritan." 

If  his  eulogist  had  added  that  if  he  had 
lived  in  this  day  he  would  have  been  a 
Catholic,  he  might  have  been  nearer  the 
mark,  for  he  had  many  of  the  human  vir- 
tues, the  exercise  of  which  frequently  pre- 
cedes conversion.  <^ 


CARDINAL  NICHOLAS  WISEMAN. 

One  of  the  phenomena  of  the  age  is  un- 
doubtedly the  restoration  of  the  CathoHc  re- 
hgion  in  England,  its  growth  in  every  paii: 
of  Grreat  Britain,  and  its  propagation  among 
all  classes  of  her  population  since  the  Eman- 
cipation act  of  1829.  While  on  the  Conti- 
nent the  ancient  faith  seems  to  superficial 
observers  to  be  losing  ground,  even  in  those 
countries  which  were  considered  preemi- 
nently attached  to  it,  across  the  Channel  the 
Church  is  steadily  advancing  its  banners  and 
drawing  its  recniits  from  the  most  intellect- 
ual, most  influential,  and  noblest  of  the 
people.  ''  United  Italy"  can  bear  with  the 
indecencies  and  rapacity  of  a  debauched 
monarch ;  Spain  be  in  a  vortex  of  commu- 
nistic revolution,  from  which  there  seems 
no  outlet ;  and  Germany  can  be  content  to 
lie  prone  under  the  iron  heel  of  a  would-be 
Teutonic  Caesar,  yet  the  very  nation  that  led 
the  van  in  the  so-called  Reformation,  that 
was  one  of  the  first  to  initiate  proscription 


156  irishmen's  sons. 

and  persecution  for  conscience'  sake  and  one 
of  the  last  to  lay  down  the  carnal  weapons 
of  polemical  warfare,  is  now  fast  gravitating 
toward  the  See  of  Rome,  from  which  the 
bestiality  and  ferocity  of  the  Tudors  had 
torn  her.  How  the  England  of  to-day 
differs  from  the  England  of  the  last  and 
preceding  centuries  !  Everywhere  churches 
are  being  built,  monasteries  and  nunneries 
founded,  schools  and  colleges  opened,  or- 
phanages and  hospitals  endowed,  a  hierar- 
chy in  high  places  restored,  and  hundreds  of 
priests  officiating  where,  if  discovered  in  the 
time  of  Elizabeth  or  James,  they  would 
have  found  that  there  was  but  a  step  from 
the  sanctuary  to  the  torture  chamber,  from 
the  altar  to  the  scaifold. 

Many  fortuitous  and  happy  events  have 
occurred  to  bring  about  so  desirable  a 
change,  and  many  pious  and  learned  men 
have  labored  unceasingly  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, but  none  with  more  zeal,  ability,  and 
success  than  the  late  Nicholas  Wiseman, 
Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westminster.  So 
successful   have   been   the   labors  of  tliat 


CARDINAL   WISEMAN.  157 

portion  of  his  life  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
Catholicity  in  England,  and  so  earnestly 
was  every  moment  of  his  time  employed 
to  win  her  back  to  her  allegiance  to  the 
Apostolic  See,  that  he  may  without  exagger- 
ation, in  this  respect  at  least,  be  called  the 
second  St.  Augustine.  Of  him  the  present 
illusti'ious  Pontiff  truly  said  that  he  was 
"  the  man  of  Divine  Providence  for  Eng- 
land." 

Let  us  endeavor  briefly  to  sketch  his  his- 
tory, and  trace,  however  faintly,  the  record 
of  his  labors  and  triumphs. 

He  was  born  in  Seville,  Spain,  on  the 
second  day  of  August,  A.  D.  1802.  His 
mother  was  a  lady  of  Spanish  birth  and 
name,  but  of  undoubted  Irish  descent,  and 
his  father  a  scion  of  an  old  County  Water- 
ford  family  who  had  settled  in  Spain  and  had 
became  extensively  engaged  in  commerce. 
We  are  aware  that  the  nationality  of  this 
parent  has  been  disputed,  and  that  the 
English  press  and  so-called  "  Biographical 
Dictionaries,"  though  they  hated  the  Car- 
dinal, yet  were  unwilling  to  accord  the 


158  -     irishmen's  sons. 

honor  of  liis  descent  to  Ireland,  and  claim  him 
as  one  of  themselves.  But  we  have  the 
authority  of  those  who  knew  him  long  and 
intimately  in  London,  and  of  a  near  relative 
now  living  in  this  country,  for  asserting 
what  we  have  above  stated  relative  to  his 
parentage.  To  argue  from  his  patronymic 
that  he  must  necessarily  have  been  English 
on  his  father's  side  is  to  show  a  very  lament- 
able knowledge  of  Irish  history.  The  very 
section  of  country  so  long  recognized  as 
the  home  of  his  ancestors  was  from  the 
fii'st  a  portion  of  the  English  pale,  and  con- 
sequently subject  to  its  laws,  such  as  they 
were.  Now  by  the  statute  of  Kilkenny 
passed  in  the  fifteenth  century,  it  was  made 
a  penal  offence  to  use  an  Irish  name,  and  all 
natives  within  the  jurisdiction  of  English 
law  were  obhged  to  Anglicize  their  names 
forthwith.  Thus  McGowan  became  Smith 
or  Smithson;  McShane,  Jackson  or  Jolm- 
son ;  McMurrough,  Murphy,  and  so  on,  to 
the  infinite  confusion  and  perplexity  of  all 
futm^e  antiquarians  and  genealogists.  That 
the  Wisemans,  as  claimed,  may  have  been 


CARDINAL   WISEMAN.  159 

remotely  descended  from  a  family  of  that 
name  in  Essex,  England,  is  quite  possible, 
but  except  in  the  resemblance  of  the  names 
we  have  no  proof  whatever  that  such  was 
the  case. 

At  a  very  early  age  young  "Wiseman  had 
the  misfortune  of  losing^  his  father.  A  few 
years  after,  the  Peninsula  was  invaded  by 
the  French  troops,  and  war,  with  its  attend- 
ant consequences,  plunder  and  devastation, 
overspread  the  land.  The  colleges  were  of 
course  closed  and  the  schools  discontinued. 
Mrs.  Wiseman  therefore,  finding  it  impossi- 
ble to  obtain  a  suitable  education  for  her  son 
at  home,  resolved  to  take  him  to  the  land  of 
their  forefathers,  hoping  that  there  she  might 
find  an  opportunity  of  training  him,  ac- 
cording to  the  usages  of  his  family,  in  the 
Catholic  faith  and  doctrine. 

In  this,  however,  she  was  sadly  disappoint- 
ed. The  dark  shadow  of  the  penal  laws 
still  hung  over  Ireland,  and  her  people  had 
not  yet  been  aroused  from  their  thraldom  of 
centuries,  by  the  trumpet  tones  of  the  great 
Emancipator's  voice.     Maynooth  College,  it 


160  irishmen's  sons. 

is  true,  existed,  mainly  on  a  miserable  stipend 
grudgingly  and  niggardly  granted  annually 
by  the  English  government  for  its  own  good 
reasons,  but  primary  education  of  a  Catholic 
character  was  still  in  its  infancy. 

In  1810,  after  allowing  her  son  to  remain 
a  couple  of  years  at  a  boarding-school  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  city  of  Waterford,  Mrs.  Wise- 
man brought  him  to  England  and  placed 
him  in  St.  Cuthbert's  College,  Ushaw,  near 
Durham.  The  gi^eat  inducement  for  selecting 
this  place  in  preference  to  others  seems  to 
have  arisen  from  the  circumstance  that  at 
that  time  the  vice-president  and  actual  head 
of  the  college  was  Dr.  Lingard,  the  author 
of  the  '^  Catholic  History  of  England,"  then 
in  the  zenith  of  his  fame,  as  he  is  to-day  the 
only  English  author  upon  whose  statements 
regarding  the  history  of  his  country  any 
reliance  can  be  placed. 

That  the  fond  and  earnest  mother  made 
a  wise  selection  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for 
we  have  it  on  the  testimony  of  the  cardinal 
himself  many  years  after  the  death  of  the 
learned  doctor.     ^'  I  have  retained  upon  my 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  161 

memory/'  he  wrote,  in  his  "  History  of  the 
Last  Four  Popes,"  ''the  vivid  recollection  of 
specific  acts  of  thoughtful  and  delicate  kind- 
ness, which  showed  a  tender  heart,  mindful 
of  its  duties  amidst  the  many  harassing* 
occupations  just  devolved  on  him  through 
the  death  of  the  president  and  his  own  lit- 
erary engagements ;  for  he  was  reconduct- 
ing his  first  great  work  through  the  press. 
But  though  he  went  from  college  soon  after, 
and  I  later  left  the  country,  and  saw  him 
not  again  for  fifteen  years,  yet  there  grew 
up  an  indirect  understanding  first,  and  by 
degrees  a  correspondence  and  an  intimacy 
which  continued  to  the  close  of  his  life." 

Here  he  remained  for  eight  years,  study- 
ing diligently  all  that  could  be  taught  him 
in  class,  and  devoting  his  leisure  hours  to 
cultivating  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
classic  art  and  antiquarian  lore.  His  in- 
dustry even  at  this  early  stage  of  life  was  re- 
markable, while  his  gentleness  and  ductility 
of  character  made  him  a  general  favorite. 
It  was  at  this  time,  also,  being  satisfied  that 

his  vocation  was  for  the  priesthood,  he  re- 

6 


162  irishmen's  sons. 

solved  to  direct  his  studies  to  that  end,  and 
even  contemplated .  a  jom-ney  to  Rome  at 
some  remote  period.  His  Latin  books  had 
awakened  in  him  a  very  intense  love  for  the 
Eternal  City,  while  his  reverence  for  all 
things  religions  created  a  desire  to  view  in 
person  the  fountain-head  of  Catholicity. 
Of  Rome  he  says:  ^'Its  history,  its  topog- 
raphy, its  antiquities,  had  formed  the  bond 
of  a  little  college  society  devoted  to  this 
queen  of  cities,  while  the  dream  of  its  long- 
ings had  been  the  hope  of  one  day  seeing 
what  could  then  only  be  known  through 
hearsay,  tourists,  and  fabulous  plans." 

A  wish  so  natural  and  a  longing  so  much 
in  keeping  with  his  tastes  and  habits  were 
soon  to  be  gratified.  The  English  College 
at  Rome,  founded  by  Ina,  King  of  Wessex, 
A.  D.  727,  was  in  1818  restored  by  Pope 
Pius  VII,  after  having  been  closed  for 
many  years  and  despoiled  repeatedly  during 
the  Napoleonic  wars.  Young  Wiseman  and 
several  other  English  students  were  selected 
to  form  its  first  school,  and  thither  they 
were  despatched  shortly  after  the  Pope's  au- 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  163 

thority  to  open  the  college  was  made  public. 
His  aiTival  in  Rome,  with  six  juvenile  com- 
panions, early  in  December,  was  a  source 
of  genuine  pleasure  to  the  future  cardinal, 
and  the  kindly  reception  given  him  by  the 
rector,  Dr.  Cradwell,  made  him  feel  per- 
fectly at  ease  in  his  new  quarters.  The 
reverend  rector,  who  had  been  appointed 
to  take  charge  of  the  restored  foundation, 
was  not  only  a  ripe  scholar  and  an  excellent 
executive  officer,  but  was  as  remarkable 
for  his  affection  for  his  pupils  as  for  his 
facility  in  imparting  to  them  the  vast  and 
varied  knowledge  with  which  his  miind  was 
stored. 

On  Christmas  day  following,  the  young 
student  was  presented  to  Pope  Pius  VII. 
This  was  to  the  lad  a  source  of  genuine 
pleasure,  and  a  day  long  remembered  by 
him  with  peculiar  satisfaction.  The  vener- 
able Pontiff,  in  addition  to  the  reverence 
attached  to  his  sacred  office  and  to  his 
many  and  shining  person-al  virtues,  had  ex- 
cited the  sympathy  and  esteem  of  all 
Christendom  by  his  undaunted  and  firm 


164  IRISHMEN'S    SONS. 

resistance  to  all  encroachments  of  the  civil 
power  on  the  rights  of  the  Church,  as 
well  as  by  his  long  suffering  and  im- 
prisonment consequent  upon  his  courage 
and  fortitude.  Not  all  the  blandishments 
of  the  great  Napoleon  could  induce  him  to 
swerve  a  hair's  breadth  from  his  line  of  duty, 
nor  all  the  threats,  menaces,  and  indignities 
inflicted  on  him  by  that  able  but  im scrupu- 
lous conqueror,  could  move  him  to  depart  for 
a  moment  from  the  pa.th  in  which  his  sainted 
predecessors  had  walked.  Kings  and  em- 
perors, the  great  and  mighty  of  the  earth, 
had  been  forced  to  bow  down  at  the  feet 
of  the  son  of  a  Corsican  attorney,  and  even 
to  court  his  friendship  and  seek  his  family 
alliance.  But  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  without 
an  army,  a  navy,  a  revenue,  or  even  a  sub- 
ject, with  nothing  but  rectitude  of  con- 
science and  his  implicit  reliance  on  the  as- 
sistance of  his  Divine  Master,  set  his  anger 
and  power  equally  at  defiance.  And,  as 
the  result  showed,  he  conquered :  a  lesson 
from  history  which  may  not  be  inaptly  read 
by  the  present  generation  of  bigots  who  are 


CARDINAL   WISEMAN.  165 

now  engaged  in  prophesying  the  downfall 
of  the  Papacy. 

The  young  man's  interview  with  the 
sovereign  Pontiff  was  thus  subsequently 
described  by  himself:  '^  There  was  the  halo 
of  a  confessor  round  the  tiara  of  Pius 
that  eclipsed,  all  gold  and  jewels.  ... 
Instead  of  receiving  us,  as  was  custom- 
ary, seated,  the  mild  and  amiable  pon- 
tiff rose  to  welcome  us,  and  meet  us  as  we 
approached.  He  did  not  allow  it  to  be  a 
mere  presentation,  or  a  visit  of  ceremony. 
It  was  a  fatherly  reception,  and  in  the 
truest  sense  our  inauguration  into  the 
duties  that  awaited  us.  .  .  The  friendly 
and  almost  national  grasp  of  the  hand,  after 
due  homage  had  been  willingly  paid,  be- 
tween the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
venerable  by  his  very  age,  and  a  youth 
who  had  nothing  even  to  promise;  the 
first  exhortation  on  entering  a  course  of 
ecclesiastical  study — its  very  inaugural  dis- 
coui'se  from  him  whom  he  believed  to  be 
the  fountain  of  spiritual  wisdom  on  earth ; 
these  surely  formed  a  double  tie,  not  to  be 


166  irishmen's  sons. 

broken,  but  rather  strengthened,  by  every 
subsequent  experience." 

Doubtless  the  good  pope  felt  a  peculiar 
gratification  in  welcoming  those  young  Eng- 
lish students  and  in  beholding  in  them 
the  germs  of  a  great  order,  the  inchoate 
laborers  in  the  vineyard,  whose  services  in 
the  future  would  do  much  to  bring  within 
the  pale  of  Catholic  unity  a  people  who  at 
one  time  had  given  so  many  illustrious 
sons  to  the  Chui'ch.  As  the  Father  of  the 
Faithful  he  yearned  for  the  conversion  of 
every  part  of  the  globe,  but  more  especially 
for  that  country  that  had  so  unaccountably 
and  suddenly  fallen  into  heresy  and  re- 
bellion against  God's  authority. 

As  in  St.  Cuthbert's,  Wiseman  proved  him- 
self, in  the  English  college,  a  student  of 
wonderful  application,  patience,  and  ver- 
satility. His  hours  of  regular  study  were 
employed  in  the  most  diligent  manner, 
while  the  time  allotted  to  recreation  was 
devoted  to  exploring  the  old  classic  ruins, 
tracing  the  half-efiPaced  monuments  of  the 
past,    deciphering   the    almost    obhterated 


CARDINAL   WISEMAN.  167 

mural  inscriptions,  and  particularly  in  wan- 
dering through  the  catacombs  and  crypts, 
where  the  early  Christians  lived,  worshipped, 
and  were  buried.  The  result  of  his  explo- 
ration in  these  latter  he  has  given  us  in  very 
eloquent  and  concise  language,  in  his  beau- 
tiful historical  tale,  ^'  Fabiola,"  and  alludes 
to  them  frequently  in  his  writings  and 
lectures.  In  fact  he  never  seemed  tu-ed  of 
referring  with  evident  gratification  to, 'as  he 
expresses  it, ''  images  of  long,  delicious  strolls 
in  musing  loneliless, .  through  the  deserted 
ways  of  the  ancient  city ;  of  climbing  among 
its  hills,  over  ruins,  to  reach  some  vantage- 
ground  for  mapping  the  subjacent  territory, 
and  looking  beyond  the  glorious  chains  of 
greater  and  lesser  mountains,  clad  in  their 
imperial  hues  of  gold  and  pm-ple  ;  and  then 
perhaps  of  solemn  entrance  into  the  cool 
solitude  of  an  open  basilica,  where  the 
thought  now  rests,  as  the  body  then  did, 
after  the  silent  evening-prayer,  and  brings 
forward  from  many  well-remembered  nooks 
every  local  inscription,  every  lovely  monu- 
ment of  art,  the  characteristic  featm^e  of 


168 

eacli,  or  the  great  names  with  which  it  is 
associated.  .  .  .  Thus  does  Rome  sink 
deep  and  deeper  into  the  soul,  like  the  dew, 
of  which  every  separate  drop  is  soft  and 
weightless,  but  which  still  finds  its  way  to 
the  root  of  everything  beneath  the  soil, 
imparting  there  to  every  future  plant  its 
own  warm  tint,  its  own  balmy  fragrance,  and 
its  own  rejuvenescent  vigor. '^ 

Such  were  the  ^' hours  of  idleness,"  as 
spent  by  the  future  cardinal,  and  while 
others  employed  their  vacation  in  mere 
sight-seeing  or  trivial  amusements,  his 
young  and  impressionable  soul  was  drinking 
in  those  pm-e  draughts  of  beauty  and  love  of 
Clnistian  art :  and  it  is  to  those  early  pur- 
suits, and  the  knowledge  acquired  through 
them,  that  the  world  is  indebted  for  most 
of  the  rare  sketches  of  ancient  Roman  life, 
topography,  and  art,  with  which  so  many 
of  his  lectures  are  adorned. 

It  is  even  questionable  whether  he  did  not 
carry  his  search  after  the  beautiful  and  an- 
tique too  far,  at  this  period,  for  we  find  that 
of  his  fellow-students  who  accompanied  him 


CAKDINAL    WISEMAl^.  169 

from  England  all  or  nearly  all  had  been  or- 
dained and  had  returned  home,  and  "  were 
gaming  a  crown  in  heaven  to  which  many 
of  them  have  passed."  But  we  must  also 
recollect  that  Providence  always  shapes  the 
means  to  the  end,  and,  while  some  are  des- 
tined for  useful  obscurity,  equally  meritori- 
ous, others  are  designed  for  higher  and  loftier 
actions  and  require  peculiar  and  more  com- 
prehensive training  and  instruction.  What 
would  be  of  little  use,  in  the  matter  of  ac- 
complishments, to  a  quiet,  laborious  priest, 
in  the  prosecution  of  his  daily  and  hourly 
avocations,  becomes  a  necessity  to  a  prince 
of  the  Church,  to  one  who  would  not  only 
have  to  treat  with  the  highest  intellects  of 
the  outer  world,  but,  from  his  position,  would 
be  obHged  to  govern  many,  as  much  by 
the  grandeur  of  his  mind  as  by  the  authority 
of  his  office. 

At  length,  in  1825,  his  wishes  were  grati- 
fied. "The  aim  of  years,"  he  says,  "the 
goal  of  long  preparation,  the  longed-for 
crown  of  unwavering  desires,  the  only  prize 
thought  worthy  of  being  aspired  to,  was  at- 


170  IRISHMEN'S    SONS. 

tained  in  the  bright  jubilee  spring  of  Rome. 
It  marks  a  blessed  epoch  in  a  life  to  have 
the  grace  of  the  priesthood  superadded  to  the 
exuberant  benedictions  of  the  year."  It  will 
be  remembered,  1825  was  the  jubilee  year. 
In  the  meantime  Pius  VII  had  passed 
away,  and  was  succeeded  by  Leo  XII, 
whose  partiality  for  the  inmates  of  the 
foreign  colleges  at  Rome  is  well  known. 
To  him,  shortly  after  his  election,  our 
young  student  was  presented,  and,  in  reply 
to  a  remark  of  his  Holiness,  he  candidly 
replied :  "I  am  a  foreigner  who  came  here, 
at  the  call  of  Pius  VII,  six  years  ago ; 
my  first  patrons,  Pius  VII,  Cardinals  Litta, 
De  Pietro,  Fontana,  and  now  Consalvi,  are 
dead,  I  therefore  recommend  myself  to 
your  Holiness's  protection,  and  I  hope  you 
will  be  a  father  to  me  at  this  distance  from 
my  country."  Words  so  feeling  and  yet  so 
simply  expressed  could  not  but  have  found 
then-  way  to  the  tender  heart  of  the  vener- 
able pontiff.  He  promised  the  youthful 
stranger  his  protection  and  kept  his  word 
faitlifuUy  dm^ing  his  entire  reign. 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  171 

Dr.  Wiseman  relates  the  following  in- 
stance of  his  kindness  soon  after,  speaking 
of  himself  as  a  thu'd  person  : 

^^  It  so  happened  that  a  person  connected  with  the  Eng- 
lish College  was  an  aspirant  to  a  chair  in  the  Roman 
university.  He  had  been  encouraged  to  compete  for 
it,  on  its  approaching  vacancy,  by  his  professors.  Hav- 
ing no  claims  of  any  sort,  by  interest  or  connection, 
he  stood  simply  on  the  provision  of  the  papal  bull, 
which  threw  open  all  professorships  to  competition.  It 
was  but  a  secondary  and  obscure  lectureship  at  best  j 
one  concerning  which,  it  was  supposed,  few  would  busy 
themselves  or  come  forward  as  candidates.  It  was, 
therefore,  announced  that  this  rule  would  be  overlooked, 
and  a  person  every  way  qualified,  and  of  considerable 
reputation,  would  be  named.  The  more  youthful 
aspirant  unhesitatingly  solicited  an  audience,  at  which 
I  was  present.  He  told  the  Pope  frankly  of  his  inten- 
tions and  of  his  earnest  wish  to  have  carried  out,  in  his 
favor,  the  recent  enactments  of  his  Holiness.  Nothing 
could  be  more  affable,  more  encouraging,  than  Leo^s 
reply.  He  expressed  his  dehght  at  seeing  that  his 
regulation  was  not  a  dead  letter,  and  that  it  had  ani- 
mated his  petitioner  to  exertion.  He  assured  him  that 
he  should  have  a  fair  chance,  'a  clear  stage  and  no 
favor,'  desiring  him  to  leave  the  matter  in  his  hands. 

"  Time  wore  on  j  and  as  the  only  alternative  given 
in  the  bull  was  proof,  by  publication  of  a  work,  of 
proficiency  in  the  art  or  science  that  was  to  be  taught, 


172  irishmen's  sons. 

he  quietly  got  a  volume  through  the  press — probably 
very  heavy;  but  sprightliness  or  brilliancy  was  not  a 
condition  of  the  bull.  When  a  vacancy  arrived,  it  was 
made  known,  together  with  the  announcement  that  it 
had  been  filled  up.  All  seemed  lost,  except  the  honor 
of  the  pontiff,  to  which  alone  lay  any  appeal.  Another 
audience  was  asked,  and  instantly  granted,  its  motive 
being,  of  course,  stated.  I  was  again  present,  and  shall 
not  easily  forget  it.  It  was  not  necessary  to  re-state  the 
case.     '  I  remember  it  all,'  the  Pope  said  most  kindly ; 

*I   have   been   surprised.     I   have    sent   for    0 , 

through  whom  this  has  been  done ;  I  have  ordered  the 
appointment  to  be  cancelled,  and  I  have  reproved  him 
so  sharply  that  I  believe  it  is  the  reason  why  he  is  laid 
up  to-day  with  fever.  You  have  acted  fairty  and  boldly, 
and  you  shall  not  lose  the  fruits  of  your  industry.  I 
will  keep  my  word  with  you  and  the  provisions  of  my 
constitution.'  With  the  utmost  graciousness  he  ac- 
cepted the  volume — now  treasm'ed  by  its  author,  into 
whose  hands  the  copy  has  returned — acknowledged  the 
right  to  preference  which  it  had  established,  and  as- 
sured its  author  of  fan-  play. 

^'  The  Pope  had,  in  fact,  taken  up  earnestly  the 
cause  of  his  youthful  appellant ;  instead  of  annoyance, 
he  showed  earnestness  and  kindness ;  and  those  who 
had  passed  over  his  pretensions  with  contempt  were 
obliged  to  treat  mth  him  and  compromise  ^ith  him  on 
terms  that  satisfied  all  his  deshes.  Another  audience 
for  thanksgiving  was  kindly  accorded,  and  I  witnessed 
the  same  gentle  and  fatherly  temper,  quietly  cheerful, 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  173 

and  the  same  earnest  sympathy  with  the  feelings  of 
him  whose  cause  had  been  so  graciously  carried  through. 
If  this  young  client  gained  no  new  energies,  gathered 
no  strength  from  such  repeated  proofs  of  interest  and 
condescension ;  if  these  did  not  both  direct  and  impel, 
steer  and  fill,  the  sails  of  his  little  bark  through  many 
troubled  waters ;  nay,  if  they  did  not  tinge  and  savor 
his  entire  mental  life,  we  may  write  that  man  soulless 
and  incapable  of  any  noble  emotions." 

In  1826,  Father  Wiseman  was  appointed 
vice-rector  of  the  English  College,  and  thus 
prevented  from  going  on  the  home  mission, 
and  two  years  afterwards,  when  his  kind 
preceptor  was  appointed  bishop,  he  was 
named  as  his  successor.  He  had  akeady 
received  the  title  of  Doctor  of  Divinity, 
while  in  his  twenty-second  year,  for  having 
maintained  a  public  disputation  in  theology 
with  marked  success. 

Though  still  a  young  man,  and  in  a  city 
where  the  best  intellect  and  most  laborious 
students  in  Christendom  were  wont  to  con- 
gregate, Father  Wiseman  had  acquhed  an 
enviable  reputation,  both  as  a  theologian, 
an  archaeologist,  and  a  linguist.  He  was 
particularly  recognized  as  an  Oriental  schol- 


174 

ar,  and  was  in  fact  one  of  the  few  men  in 
Europe  at  that  time  who  had  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  mastery  over  the  elaborate  and 
many-sided  languages  of  the  East.  The 
publication  of  his  "  Horse  Syriacse,"  his  first 
production  given  to  the  public,  confirmed 
the  general  impression,  and  obtained  for 
him  the  professorship  of  Oriental  languages 
in  the  Roman  University  in  1827,  without 
necessitating  his  separation  from  the  Eng- 
lish College. 

In  the  latter  he  taught  for  many  years 
with  great  and  well  deserved  success.  The 
discipline  he  enforced  was  neither  too  rigid 
nor  too  lax,  and  the  course  of  studies  em- 
braced as  great  a  variety  of  branches  as  was 
consistent  with  the  objects  for  which  the  in- 
stitution was  restored  to  subserve :  the 
preparation  of  young  ecclesiastics  for  the 
English  mission,  and  their  despatch,  as  soon 
as  possible  after  their  ordination,  to  the 
scenes  of  their  future  labors.  There  are 
many  priests  and  even  bishops  yet  living 
in  Great  Britain,  who  studied  under  him, 
and  who  love  to  acknowledge  with  gratitude 


CAKDINAL   WISEMAN.  175 

the  benefits  they  received  from  his  edifying 
example  and  wise  counsels.  Knowing  well 
that  the  popular  mind  of  that  day,  as  of  our 
own,  was  fast  gravitating  toward  the  study 
of  the  natural  sciences,  and  tln^ough  it,  when 
misdirected  or  not  directed  at  all,  into  infi- 
delity and  atheism,  he  took  particular  care 
to  have  those  sciences  taught  in  his  college, 
and  to  impress  on  the  minds  of  his  pupils 
that  they  would  not  only  have  to  combat 
doubt  and  materialism  in  then-  ordinary 
forms,  but  in  the  more  attractive,  though 
not  less  insidious  and  danoj-erous  o^arb  of 
research  into  the  hidden  mysteries  of  nature. 
That  his  views  of  the  duties  of  an  English 
priest  were  correct  is  thoroughly  proved  by 
recent  experience,  and  that  he  succeeded  in 
imjDressing  them  on  the  minds  of  the  stu- 
dents is  demonstrated  by  the  number  of 
reverend  gentlemen  in  England  who  have 
entered,  of  late  years,  upon  the  discussion 
of  scientific  matters  against  those  who  would 
turn  the  presence  of  God's  works  into  an 
argument  against  his  very  existence. 

It  was  is  1827  also,  that  Leo  XII  resolved 


176 

to  institute  in  the  church  of  Gesu  e  Maria, 
a  course  of  lectures  in  English  for  the  benefit 
not  only  of  all  the  persons  in  the  colleges 
and  religious  communities  in  Rome  who 
understood  that  language,  but  for  all  others 
who  might  wish  to  attend  them.  In  selecting 
a  fitting  preacher,  the  choice  naturally  fell 
on  Dr.  Wiseman,  and  he  was  forthwith  se- 
lected by  his  Holiness.  Describing  the 
audience  at  which  he  received  his  commis- 
sion, the  Doctor   afterwards  wrote: 

"  The  burden  was  laid  there  and  then  witli 
peremptory  kindness,  by  an  authority  that  might 
not  be  gainsaid.  And  crushing!}^  it  pressed  upon 
the  shoulders.  It  would  be  impossible  to  describe 
the  anxiety,  pain,  and  trouble  which  this  command  cost 
for  many  years  after.  Nor  would  this  be  alluded  to 
were  it  not  to  illustrate  what  has  been  kept  in  view  in 
this  volume — how  the  most  insignificant  life,  temper, 
and  mind  may  be  moulded  by  the  action  of  a  great  and 
almost  unconscious  power.  Leo  could  not  see  what  has 
been  the  influence  of  his  commission,  in  merely  drag- 
ging from  the  commerce  with  the  dead  to  that  of  the 
liAang  one  who  would  gladly  have  confined  his  time  to 
the  fonner — from  books  to  men,  from  reading  to  speak- 
ing. Nothing  but  this  would  have  done  it.  Yet  sup- 
posing that  the  providence   of  one's   life   was   to   be 


CARDINAL   WISEMAN.  177 

active,  and  in  contact  with  the  world,  and  one's  future 
duties  were  to  be  in  a  country  and  in  times  where  the 
most  bashful  may  be  driven  to  plead  for  his  religion 
or  his  flock,  surely  a  command  overriding  all  inclination 
and  forcing  the  will  to  undertake  the  best  and  only 
preparation  for  those  tasks,  may  well  be  contemplated 
as  a  sacred  impulse  and  a  timely  direction  to  a  mind 
that  wanted  both.  Had  it  not  come  then,  it  never 
more  could  have  come  j  other  bents  would  have  soon 
become  stiffened  and  unpliant ;  and  no  second  oppor- 
tunity could  have  been  opened  after  others  had  satisfied 
the  first  demand." 

What  between  his  duties  as  rector,  his 
professorship  in  the  university,  and  the 
preparation  and  dehvery  of  these  lectures, 
which  were  always  listened  to  with  attention 
and  criticised  with  no  little  severity  by 
crowds  of  English-speaking  visitors  in  the 
Eternal  City,  his  time  must  have  been  fully 
employed.  Yet  he  found  leisure  to  compose, 
mainly  for  the  benefit  of  his  pupils,  an 
essay  on  '^  Science  and  Revealed  Religion," 
afterwards  embodied  in  his  lectm^es  on  the 
the  same  subject.  Upon  waiting  on  the 
Pope  Pius  VIII,  to  present  a  copy  of  this 
little  work,  he  found  that  his  Holiness  had 
not  only  already  read  it,  but  honored  him 


178  irishmen's  sons. 

with  the  remark :  ^'  You  have  robbed  Eygpt 
of  its  spoil,  and  shown  that  it  belongs  to  the 
people  of  God."  This  criticism,  coming  from 
so  high  a  source,  must  have  been  peculiarly 
gratifying  to  so  appreciative  a  mind  as  that 
of  Dr.  Wiseman.  In  fact  the  subject  was 
one  he  had  constantly  studied,  and  upon 
which  he  always  loved  to  descant,  and  soon 
after  the  appearance  of  the  essay  he  was  in- 
duced by  Cardinal  Weld  to  prepare  a  course 
of  lectm-es  on  the  ^'  Connection  between 
Science  and  Revealed  Religion,"  which  were 
delivered,  fii'st  in  his  own  college  and 
afterwards  in  the  Cardinal's  apartments,  to 
a  select  and  distinguished  auditory. 

As  the  facilities  for  publishing  these  lec- 
tm^es  in  Rome,  in  the  language  in  which  they 
were  delivered,  were  very  limited,  Dr.  Wise- 
man resolved  to  visit  England  and  supervise 
their  publication  there.  He  accordingly 
went  to  that  country,  and  had  the  satisfaction 
of  finding  this,  what  may  be  called  his  first 
efibrt  to  popularize  a  theme  so  long  a  con- 
cealed one  for  the  masses,  highly  successful. 
The  appearance  of  his  book  was  the  signal. 


CAEDINAX,   WISEMAN.  179 

of  course,  for  violent  attacks  from  all  quarters 
antagonistic  to  Catholicity  and  to  Christi- 
anity, but  the  more  intelligent  and  better 
class  of  the  people  read  and  admired  it,  and 
even  the  "  scientists  "  could  not  help  admit- 
ting its  vast  erudition  and  cogency  of  argu- 
ment. Many  a  doubting  mind,  lost  in  the 
mazes  of  scientific  speculation,  has  been 
set  right  and  restored  to  sound  Christian 
views  by  the  perusal  of  those  philosophic, 
yet  perfectly  comprehensible  lectures. 
During  his  visit  he  also  preached  a  number 
of  discourses  of  a  controversial  character, 
during  the  Advent  of  1835,  in  the  Sardinian 
Chapel,  London  ;  and  another  series,  during 
the  following  Lent,  in  St.  Mary's  Church, 
Moorfields.  These  latter  were  subsequently 
published,  under  the  title  of  ''Lectures  on  the 
Principal  Doctrines  and  Practices  of  the 
Catholic  Church " ;  while  the  former  gave 
rise  to  an  animated  controversy  between  him 
and  Dr.  Turton,  afterwards  Protestant  bishop 
of  Ely,  on  the  subject  of  the  Holy  Eucharist. 
The  temper  and  courtesy  displayed  on  both 
sides  on  this  occasion  were  admhable,  and 


180  IRISHMEN'S    SONS. 

produced  a  profound  impression  on  the  Eng- 
lish pubhc  favorable  to  the  Catholics,  though 
it  was  generally  admitted  that  the  Anglican 
divine,  no  mean  opponent,  had  been  van- 
quished by  the  superior  learning  and  higher 
moral  argument  of  the  Roman  Doctor.  In 
1836,  he  returned  to  E-ome,  to  his  college 
and  his  beloved  studies.  But  the  events 
of  the  preceding  decade  had  to  a  great 
extent  changed  the  du-ection  of  his  mind 
and  aroused  in  his  bosom  a  latent  desire 
which  had  long  slumbered  there.  This  was 
a  longing  for  the  reconversion  of  England, 
and  an  ardent  hope  that  he  might  be 
thought  worthy  to  become  a  participant  in 
that  holy  work.  While  at  St.  Cuthbert's  his 
young  heart  panted  for  the  sights  and 
scenes  of  old  Rome ;  to  kneel  at  the  shrines 
of  the  saints  and  worship  God  in  the  mag- 
nificent and  awe-inspiring  basilicas  which 
adorn  the  capital  of  Christendom  ;  to  tread 
the  stones  made  sacred  by  the  blood  of  the 
early  martyrs,  and  explore  the  dungeons  and 
hiding-places  of  the  primitive  Christians, 
were  his  highest  ambition,  and  his  dearest 


CAEDINAL    WISEMAN.  181 

wish  on  earth.  Now,  in  the  plenitude  of  his 
manhood,  his  mind  fully  developed  and 
em-iched  with  all  the  learning  of  his  sacred 
profession  and  the  acquirements  of  an  ac- 
complished scholar,  he  yearned  to  return  to 
the  land  of  his  boyhood  and  to  offer  at  her 
feet  all  the  treasures  of  his  great  soul,  if  by 
so  doing  he  could  win  even  the  least  of  her 
children  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Faith. 

Many  circumstances  combined  to  inten- 
sify this  feeling.  He  had,  years  previously, 
opened  a  coiTespondence  with  his  old  teach- 
er. Dr.  Lingard,  who  sought  to  impress  on 
him  the  necessity  of  having  additional 
clergymen  in  England,  consequent  on  the 
increased  demands  for  clerical  ministration 
arising  out  of  Irish  Catholic  immigration  to 
the  large  cities  and  manufacturing  centres. 
Then,  his  former  students,  who  were  now 
hard  at  work  at  home,  would  write  to  the 
same  effect.  Next  came  the  rumor,  faint  at 
first,  that  ^'popery"  had  invaded  the  Gib- 
raltar of  Anglicanism,  Oxford  University, 
and  that  the  ablest  thinkers  in  that  time-hon- 
ored   seat    of    learning    were    gravitating 


182  irishmen's  sons. 

toward  Kome.  This  was  followed  by  Ms 
lectui-es  in  the  Gesu  e  Maria,  at  which  not 
only  Catholics  but  Protestants  of  all  sects 
attended,  and  wliich  drew  around  him  a 
host  of  English  friends  most  desirous  for  his 
presence  in  London.  His  subsequent  visit 
to  England,  and  his  cordial  and  respectful 
reception  there,  seem  to  have  finally  de- 
termined him  to  put  into  execution  the 
project  that  had  so  long  haunted  his 
thoughts. 

Four  years'  probation  were  still  to  be 
spent  in  the  Christian  capital  before  he  could 
consider  himself  qualified  to  undertake  the 
ponderous  and  difiicult  task  he  proposed  to 
himself  Dming  these  years  most  of  the 
time  he  could  spare  from  his  assigned  duties 
were  spent  in  consultation  at  the  side  of  the 
then  Pope,  Grregory  XVI,  from  whom,  as 
from  his  predecessors,  he  received  much  valu- 
able ad\dce  and  every  mark  of  confidence 
and  esteem.  In  his  ^'  Four  Last  Popes"  he 
gives  the  following  striking  pictm-e  of  his 
visits  to  that  pontiif : 

^'  An  embrace  would  supply  the  place  of 


CARDINAL   WISEMAN.  183 

ceremonious  forms  on  entrance.  At  one 
time  a  long,  familiar  conversation,  seated 
side  by  side  ;  at  another  a  visit  to  the  pene- 
tralia of  the  pontifical  apartment  (a  small 
suite  of  entresols,  communicating  by  an 
internal  staircase)  occupied  the  time.  .  . 
What  it  has  been  my  happiness  to  hear 
from  him  in  such  visits,  it  would  be  be- 
traying a  sacred  trust  to  reveal ;  but  many 
and  many  words  there  spoken  rise  to  the 
mind  in  times  of  trouble,  like  stars,  not  only 
bright  in  themselves,  but  all  the  brighter  in 
their  reflection  from  the  bnghtness  of  then- 
muTor.  They  have  been  words  of  mastery 
and  spell  over  after  events,  promises,  and 
prognostics  which  have  not  failed,  assm^- 
ances  and  supports  that  have  never  come 
to  naught." 

At  length  the  long  anticipated  change 
took  place.  In  1840  it  was  resolved  to 
increase  the  number  of  vicars  apostolic  in 
England  to  eight,  instead  of  four,  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  growing  Catholic  popu- 
lation. Dr.  Wiseman  was  thereupon  nom- 
inated coadjutor  to  the  Rt.  Eev.  Dr.  Walsh  at 


184  irishmen's  sons. 

Wolverhampton,  and  was  consecrated  that 
year  in  Rome  by  Cardinal  Fransoni.  He 
left  that  city  immediately  after,  to  the  great 
regret  of  the  many  friends  to  whom  he  was 
so  long  and  so  intimately  known,  and,  if  we 
may  judge  from  his  own  account,  the  feel- 
ing was  amply  reciprocated. 

"  It  was  a  sorrowful  evening,"  he  writes, 
^'  at  the  beginning  of  autumn,  when,  after  a 
residence  in  Rome  prolonged  through 
twenty-two  years,  till  affection  clung  to 
every  old  stone  there  like  the  moss  that 
grew  into  it,  this  strong  but  tender  tie  was 
cut,  and  much  of  future  happiness  had  to  be 
invested  in  the  mournful  recollections  of 
the  past." 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  England 
Bishop  Wiseman,  in  addition  to  his  du- 
ties as  vicar  apostolic,  assumed  the  presi- 
dency of  St.  Mary's  College,  Oscott,  near 
Birmingham,  and,  profiting  by  his  large 
experience  in  the  English  college,  he  intro- 
duced into  that  institution  many  impor- 
tant changes,  which  had  the  effect  of  in- 
creasing its  efficiency  and  establishing  it 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  185 

as  one  of  tlie  first  seminaries  in  the  United 
Kingdoms. 

From  this  period  may  be  dated  Bishop 
Wiseman's  actual  entrance  into  active,  real 
life.  His  previous  labors  had  been  but  a 
source  of  training  necessary  to  fit  him  for 
the  dischai'ge  of  higher  and  more  responsi- 
ble duties.  Heretofore  he  had  spent  his 
life  in  the  society  of  learned  men  or  in  the 
quietude  of  his  study ;  there  was  no  venal 
press  to  sjoew  forth  its  daily  or  weekly 
venom,  no  hireling  demagogues  to  excite  the 
passions  of  the  mob  against  the  professors  of 
the  ancient  faith,  no  parliamentary  zealot 
to  forge  and  utter  the  vilest  calumnies 
against  the  Church  and  her  faithful  minis- 
ters. All  these  agencies  of  evil  he  was  now 
about  to  encounter,  and,  if  possible,  to  live 
them  down.  How  well  and  faithfully  he 
wrought  out  his  great  mission,  and  how 
completely  he  silenced,  if  he  did  not  annihi- 
late, his  opponents  and  the  enemies  of  the 
Church,  we  shall  see  presently. 

The  Catholics  of  England  thirty-five 
years  ago  occupied  a  strange  and  by  no 


186  irishmen's  sons. 

means  an  encoui^aging  position.  They  con- 
sisted of  four  widely  distinct  and  to  some 
extent  antagonistic  elements.    These  were  : 

I.  A  few  noble  families  who  had  clung 
to  the  faith  thi'ough  all  changes  and  vicissi- 
tude, and  had  succeeded  in  retaining,  by  one 
device  or  another,  a  portion,  at  least,  of  their 
ancient  patrimony. 

II.  French  emigres^  with  their  descend- 
ants, who  had  not  returned  to  tlieu*  native 
country  at  the  Restoration,  but  had  settled 
down  and  married  in  England. 

III.  Isolated  groups  of  Catholic  gentry 
and  farmers,  mostly  in  the  north,  whose 
ancestors  had  remained  faithful  to  the 
Church,  despite  the  cruel  barbarity  of  the 
penal  days,  or  who,  from  their  comparative 
insignificance,  had  escaped  the  blood-hounds 
of  the  law. 

ly.  Irish  emigrants  and  then-  children, 
who  from  choice  or  necessity  had  left  their 
native  land  to  seek  employment  in  the  sister 
island,  and,  who,  with  the  tenacity  of  their 
race,  clung  with  increased  fondness  to  the 
sole  consolation  of  their  exile — the  Catholic 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  187 

religion.  This  class  far  outnumbered  all 
llie  others  combined,  as  they  also  surpassed 
them  in  the  fervor  of  their  devotion  and  the 
singleness  of  their  purpose ;  but  being 
strangers  and  generally  poor,  they  had  little 
social  standing  and  less  political  power. 
They  were  to  be  found  in  the  greatest  num- 
bers in  London,  Liverpool,  Leeds,  Man- 
chester, Birmingham,  and  other  manufactur- 
ing cities,  but  seldom  in  the  smaller  towns  or 
rural  districts. 

There  was  unfortunately  little  cohesion 
among  these  classes,  and  nothing  that  might 
be  called  a  unity  of  action  or  a  disposition 
to  labor  together  for  a  common  cause. 
There  was  no  literature,  worthy  of  the  name, 
to  disseminate  connect  opinions  on  religion, 
morality,  or  civil  polity ;  few  literary  institu- 
tions or  semi-benevolent  societies  to  bring 
together  persons  of  divers  walks  in  life ;  in 
fact,  no  common  channel  for  the  flow  of 
common  ideas  or  any  recognized  captains  to 
defend  the  persecuted  faith  and  the  outraged 
rights  of  the  entire  body.  Again,  there 
were  no  recognized  hierarchy,  few  priests 


188  irishmen's  sons. 

in  proportion  to  the  work  to  be  done, 
but  a  few  schools,  and  those  of  doubtful 
usefulness,  and  not  many  monasteries,  nun- 
neries, or  hospitals  like  those  which  now  dot 
the  face  of  the  country. 

To  correct  all  these  evils  and  supply  so 
many  defects  was  the  gigantic  task  allot- 
ted to  the  future  cardiaal. 

But,  in  addition  to  the  active  cooperation 
of  the  priesthood  and  the  zealous  support 
of  some  influential  laymen,  Dr.  Wiseman 
soon  found  assistance  in  a  quarter  from 
which  it  was  least  expected.  This  was  the 
^^Tractarian  Movement,"  as  it  was  then 
called.  At  first  springing  up  among  the 
Anglican  professors  in  Oxford  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  correcting  the  errors  and  recon- 
ciling the  incongruities  of  the  Church  of 
England,  it  ended  in  producing  some  of  the 
brightest,  purest,  and  most  profound  prelates 
and  preachers  of  the  faith  in  England. 
As  Dr.  Wiseman  took  a  great  interest  in 
that  movement,  a  short  sketch  of  its  origin 
and  development  may  not  be  out  of  place 
here. 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  189 

Its  birth  may  be  dated  from  1832,  at 
Oxford  University,  where  a  number  of  young 
but  thoroughly  trained  fellows  and  students 
had  been  long  in  the  habit  of  assembling 
in  friendly  intercourse  and  discussing  vari- 
ous points  of  Anglican  doctrine  and  disci- 
pline. Principal  among  these  was  Dr. 
John  Henry  Newman,  and  his  companions, 
Hurrell  Froude,  John  Keble,  Hugh  Rose, 
and  Dr.  Pusey.  As  Dr.  Newman  was  the 
leading  spirit  of  the  new  school  and  the 
most  advanced  mind,  we  quote  from  his 
"  Apologia  pro  Vita  Sua  "  some  passages  de- 
scriptive of  the  23eculiar  notions,  designs,  and 
ultimate  conversion  of  himself  and  many 
of  his  friends. 

After  describing  a  tour  he  made  on  the 
Continent  in  1832-'3,  his  visiting  Catholic 
countries,  churches,  and  shrines,  and  his 
calls  upon  ^'  Monseigneur  (Cardinal)  Wise- 
man at  the  Colligio  Inglese  "  in  Rome,  he 
says : 

"When  I  got  home  from  abroad,  I  found  that  al- 
ready a  movement  had  commenced  in  opposition  to  the 
specific  danger  which  at  that  time  was  threatening  the 


190 


religion  of  the  nation  and  its  Church.  Several  zealous 
and  able  men  had  united  their  counsels,  and  were  in 
correspondence  with  each  other.  The  principal  of  these 
were  Mr.  Keble,  Hurrell  Froude,  who  had  reached 
home  long  before  me,  Mr.  William  Palmer  of  Dublin 
and  Worcester  college,  Mr.  Arthur  Percival,  and  Mr. 
Hugh  Rose.'' 

These  gentlemen  and  some  of  their  old  col- 
lege associates  commenced  the  publication 
of  a  series  of  tracts,  ninety  in  all,  on  various 
topics  affecting  the  condition  of  the  Church 
of  England,  which,  from  their  intrinsic  liter- 
ary merit  and  novelty  of  opinions,  attracted 
general  attention  and  excited  much  com- 
ment and  discussion.  But  as  Dr.  Newman 
was  the  recognized  leader,  we  will  let  him 
speak  for  the  others.     He  says  : 

"  I  have  spoken  of  my  firm  confidence  in  my  position ; 
and  now  let  me  state  more  definitely  what  the  position 
was  which  I  took  up,  and  the  propositions  about  which 
I  was  so  confident.  These  were  three :  1.  First  was 
the  principle  of  dogma :  my  battle  was  with  liberalism  j 
by  liberalism  I  meant  the  anti-dogmatic  principle  and 
its  developments.  This  was  the  first  point  on  which  I 
was  certain.  Here  I  make  a  remark :  persistence  in  a 
given  belief  is  no  sufficient  test  of  its  truth  ,•  but  depart- 
ure from  it  is  at  least  a  slur  upon  the  man  who  has  felt 


CAEDINAL   WISEMAN.  191 

so  certain  about  it.  In  proportion  then  as  I  had  in 
1832  a  strong  persuasion  in  beliefs  which  I  have  since 
given  up,  so  far  a  sort  of  guilt  attaches  to  me,  not  only 
for  that  vain  confidence,  but  for  my  multiform  conduct 
in  consequence  of  it.  But  here  I  have  the  satisfaction 
of  feeling  that  I  have  nothing  to  retract,  and  nothing  to 
repent  of.  The  main  principle  of  the  Movement  is  as 
dear  to  me  now  as  it  ever  was.  I  have  changed  in  many 
things :  in  this  I  have  not.  From  the  age  of  fifteen, 
dogma  has  been  the  fundamental  principle  of  my  relig- 
ion :  I  know  no  other  religion ;  I  cannot  enter  into  the 
idea  of  any  other  sort  of  religion ;  religion,  as  a  mere 
sentiment,  is  to  me  a  dream  and  a  mockery.  As  well 
can  there  be  filial  love  without  the  fact  of  a  father,  as 
devotion  without  the  fact  of  a  Supreme  Being.  What 
I  held  in  1816,  I  held  in  1833,  and  I  hold  in  1864. 
Please  God,  I  shall  hold  it  to  the  end.  Even  when  I 
was  under  Dr.  Whately's  influence,  I  had  no  temptation 
to  be  less  zealous  for  the  great  dogmas  of  the  faith,  and 
at  various  times  I  used  to  resist  such  trains  of  thought  on 
his  part,  as  seemed  to  me  (rightly  or  wrongly)  to  obscure 
them.  Such  was  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Move- 
ment of  1833." 

Again  he  writes : 

"A  cry  was  heard  on  all  sides  of  us,  that  the 
Tracts  and  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  would  lead 
us  to  become  Catholics,  before  we  were  aware  of 
it.  This  was  loudly  expressed  by  members  of 
the    Evangelical    party,    who    in    1836     had    joined 


192 


us  in  making  a  protest  in  Convocation  against  a 
memorable  appointment  of  the  Prime  Minister.  These 
clergymen  even  then  avowed  their  desire  that  the  next 
time  they  were  brought  up  to  Oxford  to  give  a  vote,  it 
might  be  in  order  to  put  dowTi  the  Popery  of  the  Move- 
ment. There  was  another  reason  still,  and  quite  as 
important.  Monseigneur  Wiseman,  with  the  acuteness 
and  zeal  which  might  be  expected  from  that  great  Prel- 
ate, had  anticipated  what  was  coming,  had  returned  to 
England  in  1836,  had  delivered  lectures  in  London  on 
the  doctrines  of  Catholicism,  and  created  an  impres- 
sion through  the  country,  shared  in  by  ourselves,  that 
we  had  for  our  opponents  in  controversy,  not  only  our 
brethren,  but  our  hereditary  foes.  These  were  the 
circumstances  which  led  to  my  publication  of  '■  The 
Prophetical  office  of  the  Church  viewed  relatively  to 
Romanism  and  Popular  Protestantism.'  '^ 

"  I  have  said  aheady  that,  though  the  object  of  the 
Movement  was  to  withstand  the  Liberalism  of  the  day, 
I  found  and  felt  this  could  not  be  done  by  mere  nega- 
tives. It  was  necessary  for  us  to  have  a  positive 
Church  theory  erected  on  a  definite  basis.  This  took 
me  to  the  great  Anglican  divines  ;  and  then  of  course  I 
found  at  once  that  it  was  impossible  to  form  any  such 
theory,  without  cutting  across  the  teaching  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Thus  came  in  the  Roman  contro- 
versy. 

"  When  I  first  turned  myself  to  it,  I  had   neither 
doubt  on  the  subject,  nor  suspicion  that  doubt  would 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  193 

ever  come  upon  me.  It  was  in  tliis  state  of  mind  tliat 
I  began  to  read  up  Bellaimine  on  the  one  hand,  and 
numberless  Anglican  writers  on  the  other.  But  I  soon 
found,  as  others  had  found  before  me,  that  it  was  a 
tangled  and  manifold  controversy,  difficult  to  master, 
more  difficult  to  put  out  of  hand  with  neatness  and  pre- 
cision. It  was  easy  to  make  points,  not  easy  to  sum 
up  and  settle.  It  was  not  easy  to  find  a  clear  issue  for 
the  dispute,  and  still  less  by  a  logical  process  to  decide 
it  in  favor  of  Anglicanism.  This  difiiculty,  however, 
had  no  tendency  whatever  to  harass  or  perplex  me :  it 
was  a  matter  not  of  conviction.'^ 

While  in  this  state  of  mind,  an  article  by 
Dr.  Wiseman,  entitled  the  ^'Anglican  Claim," 
appeared  in  the  JDuhlin  Revieiv.  A  copy 
was  put  into  Newman's  hands,  with  a  view 
to  his  answering  it,  but  the  impression  it 
produced  on  him  was  far  from  satisfactory, 
for  he  tells  us : 

"  I  became  excited  at  the  view  thus  opened  upon  me. 
I  was  just  starting  on  a  round  of  visits  j  and  I  mention- 
ed my  state  of  mind  to  two  most  intimate  friends :  I 
think  to  no  others.  After  a  while  I  got  calm,  and  at 
length  the  vivid  impression  upon  my  imagination  faded 
away.  What  I  thought  about  it  on  reflection,  I  will 
attempt  to  describe  presently.  I  had  to  deteimine  its 
logical  value,  and  its  bearing  upon  my  duty.  Mean- 
while, so  far  as  this  was  certam — I  had  seen  the 
7 


194  irishmen's  sons. 

shadow  of  a  hand  upon  the  wall.  It  was  clear  that  I 
had  a  good  deal  to  learn  on  the  question  of  the  Churches, 
and  that  perhaps  some  new  light  was  coming  upon  me. 
He  who  has  seen  a  ghost,  cannot  be  as  if  he  had  never 
seen  it.  The  heavens  had  opened  and  closed  again. 
The  thought  for  the  moment. had  been, '  The  Chui'ch  of 
Rome  will  be  found  right  after  all ; '  and  then  it  had 
vanished.     My  old  convictions  remained  as  before.'* 

But  it  would  seem  that  the  Doctor's  con- 
victions, if  the  same  as  before,  were  consider- 
ably shaken,  nay,  actually  undermined  and 
tottering,  for  he  says  fm^ther  on,  in  reference 
to  his  reply : 

^'  However,  I  had  to  do  what  I  could,  and  what  was 
best,  under  the  circumstances  j  I  found  a  general  talk 
on  the  subject  of  the  article  in  the  Dublin  Ueview ; 
and,  if  it  had  affected  me,  it  was  not  wonderful  that  it 
affected  others  also.  As  to  myself  I  felt  no  kind  of 
certainty  that  the  argument  in  it  was  conclusive." 

Thus  distracted  by  doubts,  and  en- 
deavoring in  vain  to  find  a  resting-place  in 
the  bosom  of  the  English  church.  Dr.  New- 
man continued  to  fight  even  against  his  own 
convictions  till  he,  like  so  mau}^  other  Ox- 
ford men,  overpowered  by  the  facts  and 
arguments  that  came  crowding  on  him, 
abandoned  the  unequal  combat,  and  became 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  195 

a  Catholic.  In  1845,  in  answer,  lie  says, 
to  *'a  very  gracious  letter  of  congratulation," 
he  wrote  the  following  letter,  evidently 
addressed  to  Dr.  Wiseman : 

"  I  hope  you  will  have  anticipated,  before  I  express 
it,  the  great  gratification  which  I  received  from  your 
Eminence's  letter.  That  gratification,  however,  was 
tempered  by  the  apprehension,  that  kind  and  anxious 
well-wisliers  at  a  distance  attach  more  importance  to  my 
step  than  really  belongs  to  it.  To  me,  indeed,  personally 
it  is  of  course  an  inestimable  gain :  but  persons  and 
things  look  great  at  a  distance,  which  are  not  so  when 
seen  close ;  and,  did  yonr  Eminence  know  me,  you 
would  see  that  I  was  one,  about  whom  there  has  been 
far  more  talk  for  good  and  bad  than  he  deserves,  and 
about  whose  movements  far  more  expectation  has  been 
raised  than  the  event  will  justify. 

'^As  I  never,  I  do  trust,  aimed  at  anything  else 
than  obedience  to  my  own  sense  of  right,  and  have 
been  magnified  into  the  leader  of  a  party  without  my 
wishing  it  or  acting  as  such,  so  now,  much  as  I  may 
wish  to  the  contrary,  and  earnestly  as  I  may  labor  (as 
is  my  duty)  to  minister  in  a  humble  way  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  yet  my  powers  will,  I  fear,  disappoint  the  ex- 
pectations of  both  my  own  friends,  and  of  those  who 
pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerasalem. 

"  If  I  might  ask  of  your  Eminence  a  favor,  it  is 
that  you  would  kindly  moderate  those  anticipations. 
Would  it  were  in  my  power  to  do,  what  I  do  not  aspire 


196  irishmen's  sons. 

to  do !  At  present  certainly  I  cannot  look  fonv^ard  to 
the  future,  and,  though  it  would  be  a  good  work  if  I 
could  persuade  others  to  do  as  I  have  done,  yet  it 
seems  as  if  I  had  quite  enough  to  do  in  thinking  of 
myself." 

A  shoii:  time  after  the  despatch  of  this 
letter,  Bishop  Wiseman  called  on  the  writer 
of  it,  and  in^dted  him,  with  several  other 
converts,  to  Oscott,  and  eventually  sent  him 
to  Eome. 

Dr.  Newman's  services  in  the  cause  of 
religion  and  Catholic  literature  since  his  con- 
version and  ordination  are  too  well  known 
and  appreciated  in  both  hemispheres  to  need 
even  a  passing  mention.  His  powerful 
defence  of  the  Church,  her  doctrines  and 
discipline,  have  drawn  many  amialjle  and 
erudite  men  within  her  sheltering  arms,  but 
his  example  has  probably  had  a  much 
greater  effect,  particularly  on  the  class  of 
thinkers  from  which  he  himself  sprung. 
How  far  we  may  claim  credit  for  Dr. 
Wiseman  in  securing  this  happy  acquisi- 
tion to  the  cause  of  Catholicity,  it  is  im- 
possible to  determine,  but  certain  it  is  that 
his  writings  and  discourses  were  not  with- 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  197 

out  their  effect  on  the  conscientious,  but 
troubled,  minds  of  the  Oxford  men. 

Two  years  after  his  advent  in  England, 
Bishop  Wiseman  published  his  letters  on 
"Catholic  Unity,"  and  in  1849,  he  was  made 
Vicar  Apostolic  of  the  district  of  London. 
During  the  whole  of  the  intervening  years 
he  was  actively  employed  in  the  midland 
distnct  in  discharging  all  the  duties  per- 
taining to  his  position  as  coadjutor.  He 
was  never  idle,  but,  when  he  could  possibly 
spare  time,  was  to  be  found  preaching  in 
other  districts  or  lecturing  either  to  his  pupils 
at  St.  Mary's  or  before  literary  societies  and 
scientific  bodies.  In  this  manner  he  con- 
trived to  break  down  much  of  the  unreason- 
able anti-catholic  prejudices  which  then 
existed  in  and  around  Birmingham,  and  in- 
spired the  Catholics  of  that  great  business 
centre  with  a  proper  sense  of  the  dignity 
of  their  position. 

Dr.  Wiseman,  in  1850,  was  summoned 
to  Rome  by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  doubtless 
for  consultation  on  Catholic  affairs  in  Eng- 
land ;  at  all  events  a  short  time  after,  the 


198  irishmen's  sons. 

Holy  Father  issued  an  Apostolic  letter 
reestablishing  the  hierarchy  in  that  country, 
and  by  a  subsequent  brief  appointed  him 
Archbishop  of  Westminster  and  Cardinal. 
Cardinal  Wiseman  had  the  singular  good 
fortune  to  have  known  personally  five 
Popes,  and  to  have  enjoyed  their  uninter- 
rupted patronage,  respect,  esteem,  and  con- 
fidence in  a  remarkable  degree.  From  the 
Christmas  day  of  1818,  when  he  received 
the  blessing  of  Pius  VII,  of  sainted  mem- 
ory, down  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  had  the 
happiness  of  being  the  recipient  of  every 
attention  and  kindness  from  the  Vatican. 
With  our  present  beloved  Holy  Father  he 
was  an  especial  favorite,  and  to  him  he 
owed  the  unsolicited  honor  of  being  named 
Ai'chbishop  and  Cardinal,  the  seventh  in 
order  of  that  rank  appointed  for  England 
since  the  Reformation,  and  the  first  who 
had  entered  the  country  since  the  com- 
mencement of  Elizabeth's  reign. 

The  reorganization  of  the  English  hie- 
rarchy created  an  excitement  tln-oughout 
Great  Britain  of  such  intensity  that  it  is 


CAKDIJCAL    WISEMAN.  199 

difficult  in  tliis  country,  even  at  tins  not 
very  remote  period,  to  form  a  conception  of 
it.     All  classes  and  creeds  were  astonished 
and  jDrofoundly  agitated,  though  with  differ- 
ent emotions.     To  the  Catholics  it  was  an 
omen  of  unalloyed  good,  a  harbinger  of  the 
restoration  of  the  old  days  of  faith  and 
prayer,  and  a  guarantee  that  the  Holy  Fa- 
ther, involved  as  he  v>^as  in  endless  difficul- 
ties, still  looked  on  them  with  true  parent- 
al solicitude.      Protestant  England  was  of 
course  indignant,  insulting,  and  even  threat- 
ening. Newspapers  of  every  shade  of  politics 
and  of  no  politics  at  all,  opened  their  bat- 
teries against  the  Church,  and  every  stale 
calumny  and  musty  falsehood  that  had  slept 
for  ages  was  raked  up  from  the  mire  of  what 
is  called  modern  history  and  found  ready 
vent  in  their  columns.    From  the  ponderous 
daily  "organ"  down  to   the   weekly  penny 
whistle  of  some  remote  village,  the  same  key- 
note was  taken  up,  and  slanders,  first  in- 
vented  or   revamped    in    the    metropolis, 
spread  like  circles  in  the  water,  till,  weaker 
and  weaker,  they  at  length  reached  the  ex- 


200 


treme  boundaries  of  the  land.  Next  in  volu- 
libity  of  denunciation  of  the  ''  scarlet 
woman,"  came  that  class  of  so-called  ^'  min- 
isters of  the  Lord,"  coarse,  illiterate,  and 
intolerant  individuals,  mostly  Methodists, 
who  manage  to  earn  a  precarious  living  by 
stirring  up  the  bad  passions  of  the  ignorant 
colliers  and  navvies  so  numerous  in  England 
and  Wales.  It  was  through  the  harangues  of 
some  of  these  self-ordained  bigots  that  about 
this  time  a  mob  was  formed  in  the  city  of 
London  which  drao-o^ed  throuofh  the  streets 
and  actually  burned  outside  of  its  limits 
an  effigy  of  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God. 
Magazine  articles  also  appeared  by  the  score, 
and  pamphlets  by  the  hundred,  the  themes 
of  which  were  invariably  the  aggression  of 
Rome  and  the  danger  impending  over  the 
^'  Establishment."  Now,  would  any  sane  per- 
son believe  that  all  this  abuse,  vilification, 
and  attempts  at  argument  arose  from  the  fact 
that  a  few  ecclesiastics,  who  had  fonnerly 
been  styled  vicars  apostolic,  were  in  future 
to  be  known  as  bishops  and  archbishops, 
with  the  name  of  some  old  Catholic  sees 


CAEDIXAL    WISEMAN.  201 

attached  to  their  titles  to  point  out  their  lo- 
cahty  and  spiritual  jurisdiction  ? 

In  assuming  territorial  titles  the  bishops 
had  interfered  with  no  person  nor  \dolated 
any  law  of  the  kingdom.     So  the  zealots  in 
parliament  set  to  work  to  frame  a  statute 
prohibiting  such  assumption,  as  dangerous 
to  their  "  sovereign  lady  the  Queen,  defender 
of  the  faith,  etc."  This  bill  was  entitled  "The 
Ecclesiastical  Titles  Act,"  and  prohibited, 
under  certain  j^ains  and  penalties,  the  use 
in  writing  or  otherwise  by  '^foreign"  church- 
men, of  English  titles.     It  never  occurred  to 
those  wise  law-makers  that  such  legislation 
was  contrary  to  the  terms  of  the  Act  of  '29, 
as  well  as  against  the  spirit  of  that  much 
talked  of  and  little  understood  conglomera- 
tion denominated  the  British  Constitution, 
It  answered  its  pm-pose,  however,  by  satis- 
fying the  demand  of  the  bigots,  who  now 
were  assured  that  the  Establishment    was 
safe.     Otherwise  it  was  and  still  remains  a 
dead  letter. 

It    was    bad    enough    for    the    Sacred 
College  to  appoint  bishops  and  archbishops, 


202  irishmen's  sons. 

but  when  it  became  known  that  to  Bishop 
Wiseman's  other  high  title  was  to  be  added 
tliat  of  Cardinal,  the  cup  of  public  hidignation 
overflowed.     What,  a  Cardinal  of  the  Popish 
Church  planted  in  the  very  heart  of  good  old 
Protestant  England !     It  was  too  much  to 
bear.     A  vicar  apostolic  or  even  an  arch- 
bishop   might    be   tolerated  in   the   freest 
country  on  the  globe,  but  a  cardinal,  never. 
Still  what  was  to  be  done !     The  Catholics 
were  too  numerous  to  be  intimidated  by  tlie 
mob,  and  acts  of  parliament  had  not  been 
found  strong  enough  to  stem  the  ever-rolling 
tide  of  '^  papal  aggression."    The  only  rem- 
edy was,  like  that  adopted  by  the  lawyer 
who  had  a  very  bad   case   to   defend — to. 
abuse  the  opposite  counsel.     And  this  was 
done  right  roundly.     Scribblers  of  sorts  all 
and  degrees  .of  viciousness  put  their  steel 
pens  in  rest  and  charged  at  the   head  of 
countless  cohmms  of  mendacity  and  vitu- 
peration on  the  daring  intruder  from  Rome. 
It  was  all  to  no  purpose  however,  for  the 
cardinal  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way, 
winning  friends  on  all  sides  while  constantly 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  203 

gaining  souls  to  Christ.  Some,  like  New- 
man and  the  Oxford  men,  he  set  thinking 
and  searching  after  truth  by  his  profound 
disquisitions  on  the  doctrines  and  dogmas 
of  the  Church ;  others  he  led  into  the  fold 
by  his  captivating  lectures  on  Christian  art 
and  science,  and  many,  who  were  yet  in 
the  shadow  of  doubt,  he  enlightened  and 
convinced  by  his  eloquence  and  argument 
in  the  pulpit. 

He  had  now  the  highest  ecclesiastical 
office  in  the  three  kingdoms,  and  he  set 
himself  diligently  to  work  to  fuse  and 
assimilate  the  different  classes  into  which 
the  Catholics  had  been  divided.  From  liis 
arrival  in  England  he  was  sensible  of  the 
low  condition  of  Catholic  literature,  if  it  can 
be  said  that  there  was  any  literature  there 
thirty-five  years  ago.  He  resolved  to 
create  and  foster  one.  Good  books,  peri- 
odicals, and  newspapers,  he  held  to  be  the 
best  supports  of  morality  and  religion.  He 
not  only  pointed  out  the  way  toward 
acquiring  those  helps,  but  followed  it  him- 
self.   He  collected  his  lectures  and  sermons, 


204  irishmen's  sons. 

and  published  tliem  in  several  volumes; 
he  wrote  a  most  interesting  and  instructive 
history  of  Popes  Pius  VII,  Leo  XII,  Pius 
VIII,  and  Gregory  XVI ;  a  very  beautiful 
classic  tale,  entitled  ''  Fabiola,"and  "  Letters 
on  Ecclesiastical  Aifaii's."  For  years  he 
was  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Dublin  Review, 
and  many  of  the  ablest  articles  which  ap- 
peared in  that  quarterly  between  1840  and 
1860  were  the  production  of  his  pen.  To 
the  newspapers  and  lesser  periodicals  he 
was  a  liberal  patron  and  a  frequent  con- 
tributor, and  was  always  willing  to  aid  them 
with  his  pui'se  and  advice  whenever  it  was 
found  expedient  to  do  so.  Though  a  car- 
dinal, and  having  multifarious  duties  to 
perform,  he  was  not  above  writing  stories 
or  sketches  when  a  moral  was  to  be  pointed 
or  a  difficult  point  to  be  elucidated.  Take, 
for  example,  his  delightful  little  paper  on  the 
**  Ancient  Saints  of  God,"  published  in  the 
Month  a  short  time  pre\^ous  to  his  demise. 
In  relating  the  miraculous  interposition  of 
SS.  Abdom  and  Sennen  in  favor  of  a  young 
French  officer  during  the  siege  of  Rome  in 


CAEDINAL    WISEMAN.'  205 

1848,  he  thus  steps  aside  for  a  moment  to 
descant  on  devotion  to  the  saints : 

"But  this  is  more  tlian  a  subject  of  joy :  it  is  one  of 
admiration  and  consolation.  For  it  is  the  natural  course 
of  things  that  sympathies  and  affections  should  grow- 
less  by  time.  We  care  and  feel  much  less  about  the 
conquests  of  William  I,  or  the  prowess  of  the  Llack 
Prince,  than  we  do  about  the  victories  of  Nelson  or 
Wellington ;  even  Alfred  is  a  mythical  person,  and 
Boadicea  fabulous;  and  so  it  is  with  all  nations.  A 
steadily  increasing  affection  and  intensifying  devotion 
(as  in  this  case  we  call  it)  for  those  remote  from  us,  in 
proportion  as  we  recede  from  them,  is  as  marvellous — 
nay,  as  miraculous — as  would  be  the  flowdng  of  a  stream 
from  its  source  up  a  steep  hill,  deepening  and  widening 
as  it  rose.  And  such  I  consider  this  growth,  through 
succeeding  ages,  of  devout  feeling  toward  those  who  were 
the  root,  and  seem  to  become  the  crown,  or  flower,  of 
the  Church  It  is  as  if  a  beam  from  the  sun,  or  a  ray 
fi'om  a  lamp,  grew  brighter  and  warmer  in  proportion 
as  it  darted  further  from  its  source. 

^'I  cannot  but  see  in  this  supernatural  disposition, 
evidence  of  a  power  ruling  from  a  higher  sphere  than 
that  of  ordinary  providence,  the  laws  of  which,  uniform 
elsewhere,  are  modified  or  even  reversed  when  the  dis- 
pensations of  the  gospel  require  it ;  or  rather,  these 
have  their  own  proper  and  ordinary  providence,  the  laws 
of  which  are  unifoim  within  its  system.  And  this  is 
one    illustration,    that    what    by   every   ordinary   and 


206 


natural  course  should  go  on  diminishing,  goes  on  in- 
creasing. But  I  read  in  tliis  fact  an  evidence  also  of 
the  stability  and  perpetuity  of  our  faith  j  for  a  line 
that  is  ever  growing  thinner  and  jthinner  tends,  through 
its  extenuation,  to  inanition  and  total  evanescence  j 
whereas  one  that  widens  and  extends  as  it  advances, 
and  becomes  more  solid,  thereby  gives  earnest  and 
proof  of  increasing  dm'ation. 

^'  When  w^e  are  attacked  about  practices,  devotions,  or 
corollaries  of  faith — '  developments,'  in  other  words — 
do  we  not  sometimes  labor  needlessly  to  prove  that  we 
go  no  further  than  the  Fathers  did,  and  that  what  we 
do  may  be  justified  from  ancient  authorities?  Should 
we  not  confine  om'selves  to  showing,  even  without  the 
help  of  antiquity,  that  what  is  attacked  is  good,  is  sound, 
and  is  hol}^ ;  and  then  thank  God  that  w-e  have  so  much 
more  of  it  than  others  formerl}^  possessed  ?  If  it  was 
right  to  say  Ora  pro  nobis  once  in  the  day,  is  it  not 
better  to  say  it  seven  times  a  day ;  and  if  so,  why  not 
seventy  times  seven?  The  rule  of  forgiveness  may 
well  be  the  rule  of  seeking  intercession  for  it.  But 
whither  am  I  leading  you,  gentle  reader  ?  I  promised 
you  a  story,  and  I  am  giving  j^ou  a  lecture,  and  I  fear 
a  dry  one.  I  must  retrace  my  steps.  I  wished,  tliere- 
fore,  merely  to  say  that,  while  the  saints  of  the  Church 
are  very  naturally  divided  by  us  into  three  classes — 
holy  patrons  of  the  Church,  of  particular  portions  of  it, 
and  of  its  individual  members — there  is  one  raised 
above  all  others,  which  passes  through  all,  composed 
of  protectors,  patrons,  and  nomenclators,  of  saints  them- 


CARDINAL   WISEMAN.  207 

selves.  For  how  many  Mar3's,  how  many  Josephs, 
Peters,  Jolmi',  and  Pauls,  ai  e  there  not  in  the  calendar 
of  the  saints,  called  by  those  names  without  law  of 
country  or  ags ! 

"  But  beyond  this  general  recognition  of  the  claims 
of  our  greatest  saints,  one  cannot  but  sometimes  feel 
that  the  classification  which  I  have  described  is  carried 
by  us  too  far ;  that  a  certain  human  dross  euters  into 
the  composition  of  our  devotion ;  we  perhaps  national- 
ize, or  even  individualize,  the  sympathies  of  those 
whose  love  is  universal,  like  God's  own,  in  which  alone 
they  love.  We  seem  to  fancy  that  St.  Edward  and 
St.  Frideswida  are  still  English ;  and  soiue  persons  ap- 
pear to  have  as  strong  an  objection  to  one  of  thek 
children  bearing  any  but  a  Saxon  saint's  name  as  they 
have  to  Italian  architecture.  We  may  be  quite  sure  that 
the  power  and  interest  in  the  whole  Church  have  not  been 
curtailed  by  the  admission  of  others  like  themselves, 
first  Christians  on  earth,  then  saints  in  heaven,  into 
their  blessed  society ;  but  that  the  friends  of  God  be- 
long to  us  all,  and  can  and  will  help  us,  if  we  invoke 
them,  with  loving  impartiality." 

It  was  in  this  way  the  Cardinal  by- 
practice  and  precept  supplied  a  great  de- 
sideratum in  English  Catholic  life,  and  the 
results  of  his  labors  are  yet  prominently  to 
be  seen  in  the  very  high  order  of  books  on 
religious  and  historical  subjects  which  are 


208  irishmen's  sons. 

annually  issued  from  the  Catholic  press  of 
London.  He  was  also  an  earnest  advocate 
for  local  organizations,  when  of  a  moral, 
benevolent,  or  literary  character,  and  was 
always  ready  by  his  presence  as  a  spectator 
or  a  lecturer  to  assist  them  in  their  good 
work.  His  appearance  in  the  latter  capac- 
ity before  mixed  audiences  had  an  especial 
effect  in  removing  many  prejudices  from 
the  minds  of  those  who  had  been  taught  to 
regard  the  Catholic  as  the  religion  of  the 
ignorant  and  its  ministers  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  grossness  and  asperity. 

In  the  performance  of  the  duties  more 
particularly  belonging  to  his  position  he 
was  equally  fortunate.  He  found,  as  we 
have  said,  tlie  Catholics  of  England  divided, 
without  appreciable  social  or  political  in- 
fluence, and  to  a  great  extent  with  inadequate 
pastoral  supervision.  He  united  them  in 
one  harmonious  mass,  raised  them  to  a  level, 
at  least,  with  the  most  prominent  of  the 
sects,  and  left  them  with  fourteen  bishops, 
over  fifteen  hundred  priests,  nearly  a  thou- 
sand churches  and  chapels,  more  than  two 


CARDINAL    WISEMAN.  209 

hundred  and  fifty  religions  communities 
and  convents,  and  twenty  colleges. 

In  1860,  the  Cardinal  again  visited  Rome, 
and  for  the  last  time  beheld  the  scenes  of 
his  early  youth.  His  reception  by  the 
Holy  Father  was  sucli  as  might  have  been 
expected  from  the  character  of  these  two 
great  soldiers  of  the  Church.  The  cardinal, 
modest  and  humble  as  ever,  knelt  at  the 
feet  of  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  and  re- 
ceived his  benediction ;  the  good  Pope 
raised  him  up,  and  embraced  him  with  the 
affection  of  a  father.  Many  and  long  were 
the  conferences  they  subsequently  had  to- 
gether, but  what  transpired  during  those 
interviews  is,  and  probably  will  forever 
remain,  a  profound  secret. 

Strengthened  and  rejuvenated  by  his  visit 
he  again  returned  to  the  scene  of  his  apos- 
tolic labors,  and  for  four  years  was  unremit- 
ting in  his  exertions.  But  he  was  now  soon 
to  be  called  to  the  reward  of  his  many  good 
works.  "  He  had  fought  the  good  fight,  he 
had  kept  the  faith,"  and  his  day  of  toil  was 
near  its  close.     Early  in  1875,  his  health, 


210  irishmen's  sons. 

never  very  robust,  showed  symptoms  of 
decay,  and  soon  after  it  became  known  to 
his  sorrowing  friends  that  his  days  were 
numbered.  On  Saturday,  February  4th, 
eleven  days  before  his  death,  he  issued  a 
circuhir  to  the  clergy  of  his  archdiocese,  re- 
questing them  to  cease  praying  for  his-  re- 
covery but  to  pray  during  the  Mass  on  the 
folloAving  Sunday  for  the  grace  of  a  happy 
death.  On  the  5th,  surrounded  by  the 
craions  of  the  chapter,  he  made  the  usual 
solemn  asseveration  of  his  faith,  and  added 
the  following  words :  ^^  I  wish  to  express 
before  tlie  chapter  that  I  have  not,  and 
never  had  in  my  whole  life  the  very  slight- 
est doubt  or  lie^sitation  as  to  any  one  of  the 
articles  of  faith.  I  liave  always  desired  to 
keep  it,  and  it  is  my  desire  to  transmit  it 
intact  to  my  successors.  Sic  me  Dens  acl- 
juvat  et  Jicec  sancta  Dei  Evangelia^  On  the 
15th  of  February,  1865,  his  spirit  passed 
away. 

His  obsequies  were  conducted  with  all 
the  solemnities  known  to  the  Church  on  such 
sad  occasions,  and  his  mortal  remains  were 


CARDINAL   WISEMAN.  211 

followed  to  their  resting  place  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  cemetery,  Kensal  Green,  by  tens  of 
thousands  of  bereaved  friends  and  mourn- 
ing spiritual  children. 

How  wonderiul  are  the  ways  of  Provi- 
dence !  In  the  life  of  Cardinal  Wiseman  we 
find'  a  new  exemplification  of  the  inscrut- 
able justice  of  the  Divine  Power.  Here  is 
a  boy,  an  orphan,  whose  ancestors  had  to 
fly  their  native  land  for  their  devotion  to 
the  Catholic  faith ;  raised  up,  nurtured,  and 
trained  in  the  centre  of  Christendom  and 
sent  to  recall  to  a  knowledge  of  God  the 
very  nation  that  had  so  cruelly  persecuted 
his  forefathers.  In  the  early  ages,  Ireland 
sent  many  holy  and  zealous  men  to  convert 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  but  it  is  very  doubtful  if 
any  among  them  were  more  learned,  more 
earnest,  or  more  successful  in  their  mission 
than  the  illustrious  bishop  whose  body  lies 
mouldering  without  the  confines  of  the  Eng- 
lish capital. 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  PHILIP 
H.  SHERIDAN. 

The  late  civil  war,  which  for  four  years 
desolated  our  country,  resulting  in  the  death 
or  maiming  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  citi- 
zens and  the  introduction  of  woe  and  sorrow 
into  as  many  households,  was  not  without 
its  advantages.  Apart  from  the  poHtieal 
amelioration  of  some  four  millions  of  our 
fellow-beings,  which  grew  out  of  the  struggle 
as  a  military  necessity,  and  the  questions  of 
inter-State  and  constitutional  law  which 
were  finally  and  forever  settled  by  the 
arbitrament  of  the  sword,  in  the  court  of 
last  resort  convened  on  the  field  of  battle, 
it  awakened  the  dormant  energies  of  the 
country  and  taught  our  citizens  and  the  sub- 
jects of  other  governments  our  real  strength 
and  fertility  of  resources.  It  is  generally 
conceded  that  war,  with  its  usual  attendants, 
famine  and  pestilence,  is  an  evil  of  great 
magnitude,  but  there  are  misfortunes  far 
grea.  jr  that  coidd  befaU  a  nation  than  even 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       213 

these  combined.     A  peojDle  who  from  long 
repose  yield  themselves  up  to  enervating 
pleasures  or  smother  the  noblest  emotions  of 
the  soul  in  the  sordid  j^ursuit  of  gain  cannot 
long  remain  free.  Human  nature  appears  to 
be  so  constituted  that  it  sets  little  value  on 
what  comes  to  it  unsought  or  which,  being 
cheaply  purchased,  is  indifferently  estimated. 
Commerce,  manufactures,  and  agriculture, 
are  excellent  things  in  their  way,  and  indis- 
pensable to  the  greatness  of  a  nation,  but 
history  teaches  us  the  lesson  that  a  com- 
munity which  becomes  exclusively  devoted- 
to  those  pursuits  insensibly  but  sm-ely  loses 
its  virility,  and  eventually  falls  a  prey  to  do- 
mestic t^^ranny  or  foreign  aggression.  Hence 
it  is  that  war,  providing  it  be    waged   in  a 
just  cause,  becomes  sometimes  the  lesser  of 
two  evils,  if  not  an  actual  blessing.    Besides, 
it  has  its  positive  advantages,  its  peculiar 
virtues,  which  are  rarely  to  be  found  in  times 
of  tranquillity.     It  is  on  the  field,  and  in 
defence  of  the  helpless  and  the  weak,  that 
true  corn-age  is  fully  displayed,  and  it  is 
there  also  that  the  strongest  and  most  dis- 


216 

Sommerset  in  that  county,  is  the  oldest 
temple  of  worship  in  the  State ;  and  here 
young  Sheridan's  pious  mother  would  often 
bring  him  to  learn  those  solemn  and  salu- 
tary lessons  of  faith  and  charity  which  in 
all  the  trying  hours  of  his  after  life  were 
never  forgotten. 

Little  is  known  of  his  childhood  but  that 
he  was  an  open-hearted,  ingenuous,  and 
daring  boy,  fond  of  all  the  amusements 
natural  to  his  age  and  social  position,  and 
particularly  attached  to  the  noblest  of  irra.- 
tional  animals,  the  horse.  Many  anecdotes 
are  related  of  his  courageous,  not  to  say 
reckless,  riding,  and  of  his  hairbreadth  es- 
capes with  untamed  animals.  His  father, 
like  most  emigrants  burdened  with  a  large 
family,  was  unable  to  give  his  boy  as  good 
an  education  as  he  desu-ed,  and  ''  Phil," 
being  of  an  independent  turn  of  mind,  re- 
solved to  make  his  own  way  in  the  world 
before  his  boyhood  had  well  commenced. 
He  therefore  jom-neyed  to  Lanes ville, 
Muskingum  county,  and  when  other  lads  of 
his  age  were  enjoying  the  advantages  of 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       217 

proper  tuition  or  whiling  away  their  time  in 
sports  and  pastimes,  the  inchoate  general 
was  occupied  in  the  useful  but  not  very 
exalted  duty  of  driving  a  water-cart.  Still, 
in  one  way  or  another,  he  must  have  acquired 
the  rudiments,  at  least,  of  an  English  edu- 
cation, for  when  about  sixteen  years  of 
age,  he  attracted  the  notice  of  the  member 
of  Congress  for  his  district,  and  was  ap- 
pointed tln'ough  his  influence  a  cadet  at 
West  Point ;  he  easily  passed  the  prelim- 
inary examination  necessary  for  entrance 
into  the  academy.  We  regret  that  we  can- 
not recall  the  name  of  his  patron,  partly 
in  gratitude  for  his  kindness  and  partly 
in  esteem  for  that  quickness  of  perception 
which  could  see  in  the  generous,  industrious 
young  waterman  the  germs  of  great  mental 
and  physical  qualities. 

Nor  was  Sheridan  unworthy  of  his  gen- 
erous benefactor.  He  entered  the  MiUtary 
Academy  in  1848,  and  graduated  July  1st, 
1853,  ''  well  up"  in  his  class.  McPherson, 
Schofield,  Terrel,  Sill,  Hood,  and  other 
subsequently  distinguished  general  officers, 


216  irishmen's  sons. 

Somnierset  in  that  comity,  is  the  oldest 
temple  of  worship  in  the  State ;  and  here 
young  Sheridan's  pious  mother  would  often 
bring  him  to  learn  those  solemn  and  salu- 
tary lessons  of  faith  and  charity  which  in 
all  the  trying  hours  of  his  after  life  were 
never  forgotten. 

Little  is  known  of  his  childhood  but  that 
he  was  an  open-hearted,  ingenuous,  and 
daring  boy,  fond  of  all  the  amusements 
natural  to  his  age  and  social  position,  and 
particularl}^  attached  to  the  noblest  of  irra- 
tional animals,  the  horse.  Man}-  anecdotes 
are  related  of  his  courageous,  not  to  say 
reckless,  riding,  and  of  his  hairbreadth  es- 
capes with  untamed  animals.  His  father, 
like  most  emigrants  burdened  with  a  large 
family,  was  unable  to  give  his  boy  as  good 
an  education  as  he  desired,  and  ^'Phil," 
being  of  an  independent  turn  of  mind,  re- 
solved to  make  his  own  way  in  the  world 
before  his  boyhood  had  well  commenced. 
He  therefore  journeyed  to  Lanesville, 
Muskingum  county,  and  when  other  lads  of 
his  age  were  enjoying  the  advantages  of 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       217 

proper  tuition  or  wliiling  away  their  time  in 
sports  and  pastimes,  the  inchoate  general 
was  occupied  in  the  useful  but  not  very 
exalted  duty  of  driving  a  water-cart.  Still, 
in  one  way  or  another,  he  must  have  acquired 
the  rudiments,  at  least,  of  an  English  edu- 
cation, for  when  about  sixteen  years  of 
age,  he  attracted  the  notice  of  the  member 
of  Congress  for  his  district,  and  was  ap- 
pointed through  his  influence  a  cadet  at 
West  Point ;  he  easily  passed  the  prelim- 
inary examination  necessary  for  entrance 
into  the  academy.  We  regret  that  we  can- 
not recall  the  name  of  his  patron,  partly 
in  gratitude  for  his  kindness  and  partly 
in  esteem  for  that  quickness  of  perception 
which  could  see  in  tlie  generous,  industrious 
young  waterman  the  germs  of  great  mental 
and  physical  qualities. 

Nor  was  Sheridan  unworthy  of  his  gen- 
erous benefactor.  He  entered  the  MiUtary 
Academy  in  1848,  and  graduated  July  1st, 
1853,  ^^  well  up"  in  his  class.  McPherson, 
Schofield,  Terrel,  Sill,  Hood,  and  other 
subsequently  distinguished  general  officers, 


218  irishmen's  sons. 

being  his  contemporaries.  All  the  interven- 
ing 3^ears  were  spent  by  him  in  the  earnest, 
unremitting  study  of  his  future  profession. 
Every  detail  of  mihtary  knowledge  was 
mastered  with  a  quiet  patience  and  apphca- 
tion  that  astonished  his  more  volatile  fel- 
low-students, and  every  duty  from  mount- 
ing guard  upward,  was  performed  with 
scrupulous  fidehty.  Engineering,  artillery 
practice,  cavalry  and  infantry  tactics, 
languages,  and  all  the  other  acquirements 
which  form  the  cuniculum  of  a  West  Point 
education,  were  studied  with  care  and 
thoroughness.  With  the  cadets  he  was  a 
general  favorite  on  account  of  his  frank, 
manl}^,  and  straightforward  disposition, 
while  the  professors  of  the  institution 
regarded  him  as  a  model  of  industry  and 
perseverance. 

Sheridan's  first  commission  was  that  of 
brevet  second  lieutenant  in  the  First 
United  States  infantry  in  1853,  and  in 
the  autumn  of  that  year  we  find  him  on 
duty  at  Fort  Duncan,  a  military  post  on 
the    Rio   Grande,  Texas.     Tlie  station  was 


LIEUTENANT-GENEKAL    SHERIDAN.       219 

siuTOunded  by  roving  bands  of  Apaches, 
whose  friendship  could  seldom  be  relied 
on,  but  whose  hostility  was  almost  certain. 
Of  this  the  lieutenant  was  soon  painfully 
conscious.  Happening  one  day  to  wander 
away  some  distance  from  the  fort,  with  but 
two  companions,  he  found  himself  suddenly 
surprised  and  surrounded  by  a  band  of 
savages  led  by  one  of  their  most  noted 
chiefs.  The  Indians,  judging  from  the 
fewness  of  the  pale  faces  that  no  resistance 
would  be  offered,  called  upon  them  to 
surrender ;  and  their  leader,  with  his  fol- 
lowers, dismounted  to  disarm  them.  Quick 
as  thought  Sheridan  vaulted  into  the  vacant 
saddle  and  rode  with  all  possible  speed  to  the 
fort  for  assistance.  At  the  moment  of  his 
arrival  a  company  was  coming  out  for  drill, 
and  this  he  straightway  ordered  to  follow 
him.  They  arrived  in  time  to  save  their 
comrades  and  chastise  the  Apaches ;  the 
young  lieutenant  with  his  own  hand  slay- 
ing the  chief  and  some  of  his  marauders. 

An  action  so  opportune  and  gallant,  one 
would  have  thought,  would  have  been  re- 


220 

warded  with  some  honorable  mention ;  but 
the  reverse  was  the  fact.  The  commanding 
officer  of  Fort  Duncan  never  forgave  him 
for  it,  and  during  his  residence  of  two  years 
made  his  hfe  as  uncomfortable  as  possible. 
He  was  a  man,  it  appears,  of  violent  South- 
ern opinions,  which  he  afterwards  carried 
out  to  their  logical  conclusion  by  joining 
the  rebellion  and  attempting  to  destroy  the 
Grovernment  that  had  fed  and  fostered  him, 
and  to  which  he  had  more  than  once  sworn 
allegiance. 

In  the  spring  of  1855,  Sheridan  was 
created  a  full  lieutenant,  and  assigned  to 
the  Fourth  United  States  infantry,  then 
in  Oregon.  He  accordingly  proceeded  to 
New  York  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
shipping  for  that  State;  but  as  the  quota  of 
recruits  wliich  he  was  to  take  to  his  regi- 
ment was  not  fully  made  up  he  was  for  a 
time  placed  in  command  of  Fort  Wood  in 
New  York  harbor.  In  July  he  left  the 
fort  and  reached  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific,  with  his  men,  without  accident 
or  interruption.     Soon  after  his  arrival  he 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       221 

was  ordered  to  escort  Lieutenant  William- 
son's expedition  to  a  tributary  of  the  Colum- 
bia river,  for  the  purpose  of  surveying  a 
branch  route  to  the  Pacific  railroad,  and 
in  the  fall  he  was  ordered  to  report  at 
Fort  Vancouver,  Washington  Territory. 
In  the  earl 3^  spring  of  1856,  he  accompanied 
Major  Rains,  in  his  campaign  against  the 
Yokima  Indians,  and  in  the  battle  of  the 
Cascades,  April  28th,  in  which  those  savages 
were  completely  defeated,  he  distinguished 
himself  so  highly  that  his  name  received 
special  and  very  honorable  mention  in 
Lieutenant- General  Scott's  report.  The 
result  of  this  engagement  was  the  formation 
of  the  Yokima  Reservation,  with  Lieutenant 
Sheridan  as  its  civil  and  military  command- 
ant, a  position  which,  it  seems,  he  filled  with 
great  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfaction 
of  his  superior  officers.  The  following 
summer  he  established  a  new  military  post 
at  Yamhill.  Three  years  of  a  weary  and 
monotonous  life  followed,  broken  only 
by  Indian  skirmishes,  raids,  and  marches 
through  an  almost  deserted  and  impassable 


222  irishmen's  sons. 

country.  Those  who  have  experienced 
the  dulness  and  inconvenience  of  a  soldier  s 
life  on  the  frontiers,  deprived  of  everything 
like  civilized  companionship,  and  con- 
stantly on  the  alert  against  the  attacks 
of  wily  and  implacable  foes,  can  best  ap- 
preciate what  a  man  of  Sheridan's  temper- 
ament and  social  habits  must  have  suf- 
fered ;  but  it  was  part  of  his  duties  ;  and,  as 
usual,  he  performed  it  with  cheerfulness  and 
fidelity. 

At  length  he  was  commissioned  captain 
in  the  Thirteenth  United  States  infantry, 
then  commanded  by  Colonel  (now  General) 
William  T.  Sherman,  and  in  1861  ordered 
to  report  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  St.  Louis, 
Missouri.  He  was  there  first  detailed  as 
president  of  a  board  of  audit  to  examine 
claims  against  the  government  alleged  to 
have  been  created  under  Fremont  durinof 
that  officer's  sojourn  in  the  west.  Although 
the  position  was  an  entirely  new  one  to 
him,  he  acquitted  himself  with  more  than 
credit ;  for  he  contrived,  while  allowing  all 
just  demands  of  the  claimants,  to  satisfy  the 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.      223 

authorities  in  Washington  as  to  the  equity 
of  his  decisions. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  war,  the 
government  very  wisely  assigned  subor- 
dinate officers  of  the  regular  army  to  the 
more  important  posts  and  bases  of  supplies, 
as  commissaries  or  quartermasters.  The 
step  was  most  judicious,  for  it  greatly  facili- 
tated the  movement,  clothing,  and  feeding 
of  troops.  Volunteers,  though  of  equal  or 
perhaps  superior  intelligence  in  ordinary 
business  transactions,  had  not  yet  acquired 
a  sufficient  knowledge  of  these  essential 
requisites  of  a  well-governed  army,  and  re- 
quired instiTiction  from  those  who  had  been 
taught  it  as  part  of  their  profession.  Thus 
Captain  Sheridan  was  appointed  chief 
Quartermaster-General  to  the  Army  of  the 
Southwest,  then  in  Missouri.  His  arrival 
at  headquarters  is  thus  graphically  de- 
scribed by  a  stafP  officer :  ^^  A  modest,  quiet 
little  man  was  our  quartermaster.  Yet  no- 
body could  deny  the  vitalizing  energy  and 
masterly  force  of  his  presence.  Neat  in 
person,  courteous  in  demeanor,  exact  in  the 


224  irishmen's  sons. 

transaction  of  business,  and  most  accurate 
in  all  matters  appertaining  to  the  regulations, 
orders,  and  general  military  customs,  it  was 
no  wonder  that  our  acting  chief  quarter- 
master should  have  been  universally  liked." 
In  December,  in  the  same  capacity,  he  re- 
ported at  Lebanon  to  Greneral  Curtis,  and 
was  immediately  put  on  duty.  The  depots 
at  Rolla  and  Springfield  were  under  his 
charge,  and  his  whole  time  was  occupied 
in  providing  and  forwarding  rations,  arms, 
and  accoutrements  to  the  troops.  After 
the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  March  6th,  1862, 
he  was  sent  to  Wisconsin  to  pm-chase 
horses,  but  he  was  soon  recalled  to  the 
field,  as  his  services  at  the  time  could  not 
well  be  dispensed  with,  and  was  appointed 
quartermaster  under  Major- General  Hal- 
leck.  In  May  occurred  the  battle  and 
siege  of  Corinth.  During  the  latter,  the 
necessity  of  an  efiicient  cavahy  force,  to 
cut  off  raiders  and  intercept  supplies,  and 
a  dashing  and  experienced  officer  to  lead  it, 
became  apparent,  so  the  choice  fell  on 
Sheridan,  who  was  forthwith  commissioned 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       225 

by  the  Governor  of  Minnesota,  Colonel  of 
tlie  second  Volunteer  cavalry  of  that  State. 
The  change  must  have  been  a  pleasant 
one  for  such  an  enthusiastic  horseman,  for 
though  the  staff  appointment  had  many  at- 
tractions and  comforts,  the  position  of  quar- 
termaster or  commissary,  being  that  of  a 
non-combatant,  is  seldom  relished  by  a  true 
soldier.  Still,  the  experience  he  obtained 
while  so  acting  was  of  great  service  to  him 
afterwards,  when  he  had  an  independent 
command.  Once  in  the  saddle,  Colonel 
Sheridan  was  in  his  proper  element.  At- 
tached to  Elliott's  command,  sometimes  with 
one  regiment  and  at  others  with  two,  he  was 
incessantly  raiding  round  Corinth,  harassing 
the  enemy,  and  intercepting  their  convoys. 
On  the  6th  of  June,  being  on  a  reconnois- 
sance  below  Donaldson's  Crossroads,  he 
fell  in  with  Forrest's  cavalry,  and,  after  a 
sharp  engagement,  drove  them  back  in  con- 
fusion. On  the  8th  he  pm-sued  them  for 
several  miles  and  chased  them  through 
Baldwin,  and  on  the  12th,  his   cammand, 

consisting  of  the  Second  Iowa  volunteers  and 

8 


226  irishmen's  sons. 

Ms  own  regiment,  was  formed  into  a  bri- 
gade. He  met  the  rebel  General  Chalmers, 
at  the  head  of  nine  regiments,  in  all  about 
six  thousand  men,  July  1st,  and,  with  his 
little  brigade,  utterly  defeated  him  and  fol- 
lowed up  his  victory  by  a  pursuit  of  twenty 
miles.  For  this  gallant  action  he  received 
the  greatest  praise  in  orders  from  General 
Grant,  who  at  the  same  time  recommended 
him  for  promotion.  He  was  accordingly 
commissioned  brigadier-general  a  few  days 
after;  and  in  SeiDtember  following  he 
handseled  his  new  commission  by  beating 
Colonel  Faulkner  near  Rienzi. 

Soon  after  this  ensfaofement  his  command 
was  greatly  enlarged,  and  made  part  of  the 
Army  of  the  Ohio.  It  had  become  ap- 
parent that  Sheridan  was  the  proper  officer 
to  lead  the  cavalry,  and  from  that  time  for- 
ward he  was  employed  on  every  occasion 
when  skill  and  daring  were  required.  When 
Bragg's  army  threatened  Louisville,  then 
badly  ganisoned,  he  was  sent  to  defend  it, 
and  did  so  with  such  judgment  and  ce- 
lerity that  the  rebels  declined  to  attack  it : 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       227 

and  when  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  marched 
in  the  direction  of  Perryville,  his  troopers 
led  the  van  of  the  Eleventh  division.  In 
the  battle  that  took  place  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  that  village  on  the  1st  of  October, 
General  Sheridan  was  conspicuous,  not  only 
for  his  bravery  but  for  the  judicious  manner 
in  which  he  fought  his  men,  and  though  he 
lost  over  four  hundi-ed  killed  or  wounded, 
he,  says  one  of  his  biographers  ^'  saved  the 
Union  army." 

In  the  latter  part  of  October  of  this  year 
the  Army  of  the  Ohio  was  changed  into  that 
of  the  Cumberland,  under  Major- General 
Eosecrans ;  and  Sheridan  was  appointed  to 
the  command  of  a  division  in  McCook's  corps, 
of  which  his  command  formed  the  riofht 
wing.  Then  followed  the  battle  of  Murfrees- 
borough,  one  of  the  most  hotly  contested 
fights  of  the  war.  Sheridan  of  course  was 
in  the  thickest  part  of  it,  struggling  manfully 
against  overpowering  numbers  and  obsti- 
nately disputing  every  inch  of  ground.  Four 
times  in  succession  he  repulsed  Hardee's 
troops,  and  would  in  all  probability  have 


228  ieishmen's  sons. 

held  his  position  while  he  had  a  man  left, 
had  reinforcements  not  been  sent  to  enable 
him  to  assume  the  offensive.  These  were 
brought  by  General  Rousseau,  who  thus 
humorously  describes  the  condition  of  affairs 
when  he  came  upon  Sheridan.  "  I  knew 
it  was  hell  in  there  before  I  got  in,  but  I 
was  convinced  of  it  when  I  saw  Phil  Sheri- 
dan, with  hat  in  one  hand  and  sword  in  the 
other,  fiofhtina-  as  if  he  were  the  devil  incar- 
nate,  or  had  a  fresh  indulgence  from  Father 
Tracy  every  five  minutes."  Father  Tracy 
here  mentioned,  it  may  be  remarked,  was 
Major-G-eneral  Rosecrans'  chaplain,  and 
was  highly  esteemed  in  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  even  by  those  who  were  not 
Catholics,  for  his  amiability  and  strict  atten- 
tion to  his  clerical  duties. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  year  1862,  Sheridan 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Major- General, 
and  during  the  winter  and  early  spring  de- 
voted himself  exclusively  to  the  drilling  and 
equi^Dping  of  his  men,  varied  by  an  occa- 
sional raid  now  and  then  to  try  the  mettle 
of  their   horses   and   to   keep   the  enemy 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  SHERIDAN.   229 

constantly  in  a  state  of  alarm.  In  July 
Eosecrans  moved  toward  Chattanooga,  and 
Sheridan,  as  part  of  McCook's  command, 
took  the  Shelbyville  road,  crossed  the  Elk 
river,  and  captured  Cowan.  On  this  march 
he  also  had  some  successful  skirmishes  at 
Liberty  Gap  and  Winchester. 

About  this  time  the  following  incident 
occurred  to  the  Major-General,  for  which 
we  are  indebted  to  an  eye-witness  for  a 
description.  He  says  :  ''  The  belligerent 
in  Sheridan's  organization  is  often  aroused 
without  the  stimulus  of  the  smell  of  powder. 
In  1863,  w^iile  Sheridan  was  encamped  in 
Bridgeport,  Alabama,  he  invited  General 
George  H.  Thomas,  then  encamped  at  Dick- 
ford,  Tennessee,  to  examine  the  works  erected 
at  Bridgeport  and  the  preparations  going  on 
for  rebuilding  the  bridge.  At  one  of  the 
way  stations,  the  train  halted  for  an  un- 
usually long  time,  and  Sheridan,  in  asking 
the  conductor,  a  great  burly  six-footer,  the 
reason  of  the  delay,  met  with  a  somewhat 
gruff  reply.  Sheridan  contented  himself 
with  repro^ang  his  manner,  and  ordered  him 


230  irishmen's  sons. 

to  proceed  with  the  train.  The  conductor 
did  not  reply,  and  failed  to  obey.  After 
waiting  for  a  time,  Sheridan  sent  for  the 
conductor,  and  demanded  to  know  why  he 
had  not  obeyed.  The  fellow  answered  still, 
in  a  gruff  manner,  that  he  received  his  or- 
ders from  the  military  superintendent  onl}^. 
Without  giving  him  time  to  finish  the  in- 
sulting remark,  Sheridan  struck  him  two  or 
three  rapid  blows,  kicked  him  off  the  cars 
into  the  hands  of  a  guard,  and  then  ordered 
the  train  forward,  acting  as  conductor  on  the 
down  and  return  trip.  This  accomplished, 
he  resumed  his  seat  beside  Thomas  as  if 
nothing  unusual  had  occm-red,  and  pro 
ceeded  with  the  conversation  which  had 
been  so  rudely  interrupted." 

The  battle  of  Chickamauga,  on  the  19th 
and  20th  of  September,  was  a  long-fought 
and  well-contested  one.  Sheridan's  di^dsion 
was  hotly  engaged  throughout  the  entu^e 
engagement,  particularly  Lytle's  and  Wal- 
worth's brigades,  and  the  result  was  the 
capture  of  many  prisoners,  from  five 
different  rebel  di\dsions  whose   onslaught 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.      231 

it  successively  withstood,  and  the  colors  of 
the  Twenty-fourth  Alabama.  In  his  report 
of  the  operations  of  his  corps  on  this  occa- 
sion, McCook  said :  ^'  To  Major-General 
Sheridan,  Third  division,  Brigadier- Gen- 
eral Johnson,  commanding  Second  division, 
and  to  B.  G.  Da\ds,  First  division  of  my 
corps,  my  thanks  are  due  for  their  earnest 
cooperation  and  devotion  to  duty.  Major- 
General  Sheridan  is  commended  to  his 
country." 

In  October  the  corps  of  Crittenden  and 
McCook  were  consolidated  with  Granger's, 
and  placed  under  the  command  of  that 
officer,  Major-General  Sheridan  still  retain- 
ing his  division,  which  had  again  been 
greatly  enlarged.  The  battle  of  Lookout 
Mountain,  Chattanooga,  or  Mission  Eidge, 
was  fought  on  the  25th  of  the  following 
month,  Sheiidan's  division,  as  usual,  ha^dng 
its  full  share  of  the  fighting  and  the  glory 
attendant  on  that  victory.  On  the  2d 
day  of  January,  1863,  occurred  the  engage- 
ment at  Stone  river,  in  which  he  likewise 
played  a  conspicuous  and  important  part. 


232  ieishmen's  sons. 

Of  this  entire  campaign  it  is  enough  to  say 
that  no  matter  in  what  part  of  the  line  the 
fiery  Major- General  was  placed,  there 
the  hardest  sort  of  fighting  and  the  most 
desperate  attacks  and  resistance  were  sure 
to  take  place,  and  with  equal  certainty  the 
Union  troops  were  ever  the  victors.  Much 
credit  of  course  is  due  to  Sheridan's  men  for 
their  discipline,  courage,  and  endurance. 
They  were  the  flower  of  the  young  farmers 
of  the  West  and  Southwest,  mostly  Irish  by 
birth  or  extraction ;  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  best  troops  in  the  world  will 
make  but  a  poor  display  when  actually  un- 
der fire,  if  commanded  by  timid  or  ignorant 
officers.  In  all  our  experience  of  actual 
warfare  we  have  seldom  found  the  enlisted 
men  give  way  to  the  enemy  till  their 
officers  showed  signs  of  wavering  or  confu- 
sion, and  we  have  known  raw  recruits  to 
stand  as  firm  as  the  oldest  veterans,  when 
tlieir  commandants  have  set  them  the 
example  of  intrepidity  and  coolness. 

Early  in  1863,  Sheridan  was  transfeiTed 
from  the  Southwest  to  the  East,  and  a  new 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.      233 

and  larger  field  of  enterprise  and  distinction 
was  opened  to  him.  On  tlie  9tli  of  March 
Grant  was  summoned  to  Washington,  com- 
missioned Lieutenant- General,  and  intrust- 
ed Avith  the  command  of  the  entire  land 
forces  of  the  United  States.  It  was  under- 
stood at  the  time,  and  confirmed  by  subse- 
quent events,  that  he  was  to  be  left  un- 
trammelled in  the  disposition  and  movements 
of  the  various  armies  of  the  Union,  and  that 
he  was  to  use  his  own  discretion  in  the 
selection  of  general  ofiicers  to  command 
them ;  they  of  course  looking  to  him  in  all 
cases  for  their  orders  and  instructions.  This 
was  a  wise  policy  on  the  part  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive and  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  was 
fully  justified  by  the  events  which  followed. 
In  the  exercise  of  this  new  and  ample 
power,  Lieutenant-General  Grant  displayed 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  human  nature,  and 
an  insight  into  the  mental  capacity  of  his  sub- 
ordinates amounting  to  veritable  genius. 
Setting  aside  the  general  ofiicers  of  the  old 
school,  he  selected  comparatively  young 
though  not  untried  men  for  the  largest  and 


234  irishmen's  sons. 

most  important  commands,  such  as  Sherman, 
,  Sheridan,  Thomas,  Hancock,  and  others  of 
that  stamp,  and  hence  the  march  of  our 
troops,  in  whatever  direction  and  in  every 
portion  of  the  country,  was  always  attended 
Tvdth  success. 

Sheiidan  had  spent  trie  greater  portion 
of  February  and  March  in  Tennessee,  driv- 
ing out  the  rebels  who  still  lingered  in  that 
State,  having  accomplished  which  he  re- 
tuined  to  Chattanooga.  Shortly  after  his 
arrival  he  was  ordered  to  Washington,  and 
there,  greatly  to  his  surprise  and  no  doubt 
gTatification,  was  assigned  to  the  command 
of  the  cavalry  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
On  his  way  to  the  capital  he  was  asked  what 
was  the  object  of  his  visit,  but  he  could  give 
no  intelligent  answer ;  for  he  did  not  know 
himself  what  his  presence  was  required  for. 
He  was  not  then  aware  that  Grant,  during 
his  stay  in  Washington,  had  spoken  of  him 
in  the  highest  terms  of  praise,  as  the  most 
capable  officer  to  assume  so  important  and 
responsible  a  position  as  that  of  commander 
of  the  cavalry  in  Virginia. 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       235 

The  campaign  of  1864  on  the  Peninsula 
opened  on  the  1st  of  May.  Major- General 
Georg-e  Meade  was  in  command  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  but  as  this  was  considered 
the  most  important  portion  of  our  forces, 
and  as  the  fall  of  the  rebel  capital,  the  objec- 
tive point,  was  much  to  be  desired,  both  for 
its  political  and  moral  effect,  Lieutenant- 
General  Grant  accompanied  Meade,  and 
remained  with  him  till  the  termination  of 
the  war.  Sheridan  was  therefore  constantly 
under  the  immediate  supervision  and  orders 
of  the  commander-in-chief. 

On  the  3d  of  May,  Sheridan  crossed 
the  Papidan  river  with  his  whole  force,  and 
on  the  4th  passed  the  Wilderness,  and 
started  on  a  reconnoitring  and  raiding  ex- 
pedition in  the  rear  of  the  enemy.  He 
successively  visited  Gray's  Church,  Parker's 
Store,  and  Todd's  Tavern  (strange  names  for 
a  battle  flag),  Fredericksburg,  Childsburg, 
and  Beaver  Dam  station,  and  at  the  latter 
place  had  the  good  fortune  to  release  some 
thi'ee  hundred  Union  prisoners.  In  his 
course   he   destroyed   large   quantities   of 


236  lEISHMEN^S   SONS. 

military  stores,  burned  down  bridges,  and 
tore  up  rails  by  the  mile.  On  the  lltli, 
when  within  six  miles  of  Richmond,  he  en- 
countered a  superior  force  of  the  enemy's 
cavahy  under  the  notorious  Jeb  Stuart,  and 
a  desperate  fight  took  place,  ending  in  the 
death  of  that  misguided  officer  with  that 
of  many  of  his  troops,  and  the  capture  of 
several  guns  and  prisoners.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day,  he  threw  out  a  detachment 
toward  Richmond,  which  passed  the  two 
outer  Imes  of  defence,  reached  within 
a  mile  of  the  city,  and  having  obtained  all 
necessary  infoimation,  retm-ned  to  the 
main  body.  His  next  movement  was  to 
cross  the  Chickahominy,  but  on  arriving  at 
Meadow  Bridge  he  found  it  partially  de- 
stroyed and  impassable  for  artillery  and 
cavalry,  as  well  as  defended  on  the  other 
side  by  a  large  force  of  rebels.  Nothing 
dismayed,  he  ordered  his  men  to  ford  the 
river,  and  dashing  across,  soon  ])ut  the  enemy 
to  flight.  While  the  combat  was  in  prog- 
ress, his  rear  was  attacked,  so  that  he  was 
placed  between  two  fii'es.     Leaving  a  small 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.      237 

force   to  reconstruct  the  bridge  and  pursue 
the  first  party  of  rebels,  he  turned  on  his 
new   assailants,    and    after    routing*    them 
thoroughly,  chased  them  through  Mechan- 
icsville,  with  the  loss  of  many  killed  or 
wounded   and   several   hundred   prisoners. 
He   then   proceeded,   carrying  destruction 
everywhere,  by  Bottom's  Bridge  to  General 
Butler's  headquarters,  having  made  the  entire 
circuit  of  the  enemy's  rear  in  an  incredibly 
short  space  of  time  and  thoroughly  effected 
the  object  of  his  expedition.    Again  we  find 
him  at  headquarters  at  White  House  Land- 
ing on  the   Pamunky,  guarding  the  flank 
of  Meade's  army,   and  in  that  position  he 
rendered  most  essential  service  when  Grant 
crossed  his  army  over  the  James  river,  June 
14th  and  15th.     Some  conception  may  be 
formed  of  his  valuable  aid  to  the  infantry 
and  artillery  on  that  occasion,  when  it  is 
understood  that  the  entire  army,  consisting 
of  not  less  than  a  hundred  and  thirty  or  a 
hundred  and  forty  thousand  men,  with  their 
guns,  wagons,  horses,  and  cattle,  crossed  a 
broad,  rapid,  and  deep  river  without  losing 


238  irishmen's  sons. 

a  man,  a  gnn,  a  caisson,  or  an  ambulance, 
and  that  too,  in  the  very  face  of  Lee's  whole 
army. 

Petersburg  now  became  the  *  object  of 
attack,  as  constituting  the  key  to  Richmond. 
Some  preliminary  attempts  to  take  it  having 
failed.  Grant  regularly  invested  the  city  and 
threw  up  works  in  front  of  it.  Sheridan's 
cavalry  being  thus  let  loose,  recommenced 
their  usual  tactics.  Crossing  the  North 
Anna  river,  he  advanced  through  Buckchild's 
to  Gordons ville.  Here  he  encountered  a 
force  of  rebel  calvary,  and  almost  cut  it 
into  pieces.  He  next  went  to  Guiney's 
station  on  the  Fredericksburg  and  Richmond 
railroad,  where  he  halted  for  a  few  days  to 
rest  his  men,  and  thence  returned  to  the 
White  House.  But  he  was  soon  again  in 
motion.  On  the  23d  and  24th,  he  defeated 
the  rebels  at  Jones's  Bridge  on  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  and  at  St.  Mary's  Church,  and 
crossed  the  James  river  five  miles  above 
Powhattan  Point.  From  this  time  until  the 
beginning  of  August  Sheridan  may  be  said 
to  have  never  been  out  of  the  saddle,  ex- 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       239 

cept  during  the  limited  times  he  allowed 
himself  for  sleep.  It  has  even  been  as- 
serted that  on  many  occasions  he  was  seen 
taking  his  scanty  meals  on  the  road,  his 
charger  on  a  trot,  and  his  men  following 
close  after.  Whether  this  be  tme  or  not,  he 
certainly  performed  a  great  deal  of  work; 
by  day  and  night  and  was  perpetually  em- 
ployed on  the  flanks  and  in  the  rear  of  the 
enemy. - 

To  make  a  diversion  in  favor  of  Lee's 
army,  then  pent  up  in  Petersbm-g  and  Rich- 
mond, as  well  as  to  gather  in  or  destroy  the 
crops,  a  large  force  of  rebels  was  sent  to  the 
fertile  Shenandoah  Valley,  under  General 
Early.  This  body,  scattering  over  the  coun- 
tr}^,  obtained  much  plunder;  and  what  could 
not  be  carried  off  was  destroyed.  Meeting 
with  little  opposition  at  first,  it  advanced 
within  a  few  miles  of  Harper's  Ferry,  and 
even  threatened  our  communications  with 
Washington.  But  its  successes  were  short- 
lived. On  the  7th,  Major-General  Sheridan 
was  assigned  to  the  middle  Military  Divis- 
ion to  oppose  those  incursions,  and  soon 


240 

after  we  find  liim  indulging  in  his  pastime 
of  skirmishing  with  detachments  of  Early's 
army.  On  the  15th  of  September  Grant 
left  City  Point  on  a  visit  to  his  cavalry  com- 
mander, and  the  result  of  the  conference  is 
thus  laconically  described  by  the  former : 
^'I  saw,"  said  that  general,  ^'that  there 
were  but  two  words  of  instruction  neces- 
sary— ^  Go  in.' "  And  Sheridan  did  ''  go  in" 
with  a  vengeance,  for  on  the  19th  he  at- 
tacked Early  near  Winchester,  defeated 
him,  left  hundreds  of  his  men  dead  or  dying, 
and  captured  several  thousand  prisoners. 
Following  up  the  fleeing  rebels,  he  over- 
took them  the  following  day  at  Fisher's 
Hill,  routed  Early  again,  and  closely  pur- 
sued his  demoralized  forces  tln-ough  Har- 
risonburg and  Staunton. 

Up  to  this  time,  Sheridan's  rank  in  the 
regulars  was  very  inferior  in  comparison  to 
his  merits  and  services  ;  his  commissions  as 
Colonel,  Brigadier- General  and  Major- Gen- 
eral were  only  in  the  volunteer  service,  and 
consequently  would  expire,  as  soon  as  the 
war  was  ended.     His  brilliant  exploits  in 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       241 

the  Valley  called  the  attention  of  the  Presi- 
dent to  his  abilities  and  immense  activity 
in  the  execution  of  his  orders,  and  accord- 
ingly he  was  appointed  Brigadier-General 
in  the  regular  army. 

In  the  fall  of  1864  Sheridan  had  occasion 
to  visit  the  capital  on  some  business  of  im- 
portance connected  with  his  command,  hav- 
ing left  his  troops  in  charge  of  the  next 
ranking  officer,  and,  as  he  supposed,  safe 
from  all  molestation  during  his  absence. 
But  for  once  was  he  mistaken.  The  rebel 
general  having  been  strongly  reinforced,  and 
having  been  informed  by  his  scouts  that  the 
master  spirit  of  the  Union  forces  was  not  on 
the  field,  hazarded  an  attack  on  their  position 
near  Cedar  Creek  and  Strasbourg  on  the  19th 
of  October.  The  onslaught  was  fierce  and 
well  sustained,  and  at  first  successful,  the 
Union  troops  being  driven  back  three  or 
four  miles,  defeat  staring  them  in  the  face 
and  all  support  far  beyond  assisting  distance. 
Despair  was  depicted  on  every  face.  But 
there  was  succor  nigher  than  they  had  an- 
ticipated.   That  morning  Sheridan  had  set 


242  irishmen's  sons. 

out  leisurely  for  liis  canip,  and  was  well  on 
the  road  when  he  was  informed  of  the 
attack.  As  he  drew  a  little  near  to  the  scene 
of  action,  he  recognized  the  fact,  from  the 
sound  of  the  guns,  that  his  men  were  falling 
back  and  the  enemy  was  gaining  ground  on 
them.  Then  he  plunged  the  rowels  of  his 
spurs  into  his  horse's  flanks  and  rode  as 
few  men  have  ridden  before.  What  thoughts, 
what  sensations,  must  have  flashed  tlu*ough 
that  excited  brain  as  he  tore  along  the 
road  to  Winchester.  His  own  reputation 
imperilled,  his  gallant  fellows  defeated,  and 
cut  down,  nay,  perhaps  the  very  salvation 
of  the  Eepublic,  all,  all,  depending  on  the 
swiftness  of  his  charger  and  his  own 
presence  in  the  field.  On,  on,  he  gallops, 
every  moment  seeming  an  hour,  while  the 
booming  of  the  cannon  sounds  ominously 
nearer  to  Winchester,  till  at  length,  breath- 
less and  hatless,  his  horse  exhausted  and 
covered  with  foam,  he  dashes  in  among  his 
disorganized  troops  and  with  a  voice  that 
penetrated  from  end  to  end  of  the  line — a 
voice  that  had  never  ordered  in  vain — he 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.      243 

commands  a  halt.  The  effect  of  his  ap- 
pearance and  the  sound  of  his  voice  were 
electrical.  The  army  which  had  been  a 
disorganized  mass  but  a  minute  previously 
is  now  re-formed:  tlie  infantry  in  serried 
lines,  the  artillery  in  position,  and  the 
cavalry  on  either  flank.  It  is  now  the  turn 
of  the  rebels  to  stop  in  astonishment  and 
speculate  in  wonder  what  had  caused  such 
a  change  in  their  beaten  foemen.  But 
they  have  not  long  to  wait.  Again  the 
trumpet  tones  of  Sheridan  ring  out  clear 
on  the  atmosphere.  Artillery  to  the  front ! 
Infantry,  charge  !  Away  they  go  with  one 
long,  wild  cheer,  every  man  seeming  to  be 
animated  with  the  contagious  impetuosity 
of  his  leader,  as  well  as  with  a  burning  de- 
sire to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  of  defeat.  The 
sti'uggle  was  short,  sharp,  and  decisive.  The 
^actors  of  the  morning  have  become  the 
vanquished  at  noon.  The  rebels  stood  firm 
awhile,  then  staggered,  broke,  and  fled  in 
utter  confusion ;  and  Sheridan,  bareheaded 
but  with  drawn  sword,  led  up  his  cavalry  and 
completed  the  victory.     The  pursuit  lasted 


244  irishmen's  sons. 

till  night,  many  of  those  who  had  escaped 
unscathed  from  the  field  fell  by  the  road 
side,  and  those  who  threw  down  their  arms, 
to  the  number  of  fifteen  hundred,  were 
taken  prisoners.  Nearly  all  the  artillery, 
wagons,  munitions,  stores,  and  horses  of 
Early's  once  formidable  command  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  victors,  and  that  ill-starred 
general  but  once  again  troubled  the  peace- 
ful valley  of  the  Shenandoah — except,  per- 
haps, as  a  reconstructed  politician  mourning 
over  the  ^'  Lost  Cause,"  or  as  a  letter  writer 
trying  to  prove  that  some  person  other  than 
himself  was  responsible  for  his  want  of  suc- 
cess. Perhaps  it  was  ^'Little  Phil  Sheridan" 
who  ''sent  him  whirling  down  the  valley." 
Very  likely. 

The  decisive  victory  of  Winchester  ex- 
cited the  greatest  enthusiasm  in  all  quarters, 
and  in  the  north,  east,  and  west,  Sheridan's 
name  was  on  every  tongue,  and  his  praises 
resounded  from  one  end  of  the  Union  to 
the  other.  Had  our  arms  met  with  a 
reverse  no  blame  could  have  been  attached 
to    him,    for    he  was    absent    by    proper 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   SHERIDAN.      245 

authority  and  by  orders  of  his  superior,  the 
President.  Defeat  in  such  a  case  would 
have  been  the  fault  of  others  ;  the  glory  of 
the  day  was  all  his  own.  To  General 
Grant  in  particular  his  Major- General's 
splendid  achievement  was  a  soiu^ce  of  un- 
alloyed pleasure.  He  sent  a  communica- 
tion to  Washington,  extolling  the  victor  in 
the  warmest  manner;  and  with  that  disin- 
terested admiration  which  he  has  ever  felt  for 
his  subordinates,  he  attributed  the  success 
of  the  day  entirely  to  Sheridan's  personal 
exertions.  "  Turning  what  bid  fair  to  be 
a  disaster,"  he  wrote,  "  into  a  glorious  ^dc- 
tory,  stamps  Sheridan,  what  I  always 
thought .  him,  one  of  the  ablest  of  gen- 
erals." 

In  addition  to  the  thanks  of  a  grateful 
country  and  the  admiration  and  increased 
esteem  of  his  brother  officers,  the  hero  of 
the  Shenandoah  was  rewarded  by  the  gov- 
ernment with  a  commission  as  Major-Gen- 
eral  in  the  regular  service,  November,  1864. 
Thus  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-two,  without 
political  influence,  social  prestige,  or  family 


246  irishmen's  sons. 

interest,  the  son  of  humble  Irish  parents,  the 
errand-boy  of  Sommerset,  found  himself  the 
second  general  officer  in  rank  in  tlie  regu- 
lar army  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
command  higher  than  some  who  had 
ofraduated  while  he  was  drivino^  a  water- 
cart  in  the  streets  of  Lanesville.  And  he  had 
the  proud  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  it  was 
to  his  own  intrinsic  capacity,  to  his 
diligence,  industry,  and  conscientious  ob- 
servance of  the  rules  of  his  profession,  and  to 
them  alone,  that  he  owed  his  success  and 
elevation  to  the  high  grade  now  conferred 
upon  him. 

Sheridan  left  his  winter  quarters  Feb- 
ruary 27th,  1865,  took  Staunton  March  2d, 
and  again  defeated  Early  near  Waynes- 
borough.  This  time  he  left  scarcely  a  shred 
of  that  warrior's  army,  and  those  who  had 
the  good  fortune  to  escape  hastened  with 
their  unlucky  chief  out  of  the  Valley  as 
quickly  as  possible,  to  tell  the  tale  of  their 
share  in  the  "  Lost  Cause."  As  for  Sheridan, 
who  always  seems  to  have  had  a  passion 
for  raiding,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.      247 

destruction  of  the  railroad,  the  James 
canal,  and  all  other  means  by  which  the 
rebels  might  endeavor  to  keep  up  their 
communications  or  forward  their  supplies. 
On  the  19  th  of  March  he  returned  to  his 
old  quarters  at  White  House  Landing,  and 
allowed  his  tired  troops,  weary  with  con- 
quest, a  few  days'  repose.  On  the  27th  we 
find  him  with  the  main  body  of  the  army 
in  front  of  Petersburg,  and  in  two  days  after, 
at  the  head  of  nine  thousand  cavalry  and 
the  Fifth  corps,  on  his  way  to  destroy  the 
Danville  and  South  Side  railroad. 

The  occupation  of  this  road  by  the  rebels 
w^as  a  vital  point  in  their  system  of  defence 
of  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  as  it  was  the 
only  main  artery  left  untouched  by  which 
they  could  expect  to  get  reinforcements  and 
supplies.  It  was  of  course  j  ealously  watched 
and  strongly  guarded  at  all  times,  and  when 
the  object  of  Sheridan's  expedition  became 
apparent  to  the  enemy,  large  reinforce- 
ments were  sent  to  the  menaced  point. 
The  contending  forces  met  on  31st  of 
March  at  Five  Forks,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes 


248  irishmen's  sons. 

called,  Amelia  Court  House.  At  first,  victory 
seemed  to  favor  the  rebels,  and  Sheridan, 
with  his  cavah-}^  and  infantry,  was  obliged 
to  fall  back,  but  only  as  far  as  Dinwiddle, 
with  some  loss.  On  the  following  day,  hav- 
ing been  reinforced  by  the  gallant  Second 
corps,  in  which  were  the  celebrated  Irish 
brigade,  Corcoran's  Legion,  Sixty-ninth 
Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  and  many  other 
battalions  in  whole  or  in  greater  part  Irish, 
he  again  advanced  to  Five  Forks  and  re- 
newed the  conflict. 

This  was  the  last  battle  of  the  war, 
properly  so  called,  and  it  was  contested  on 
one  side  with  all  the  energy,  stubbornness, 
and  courage  of  despair,  and  on  the  other 
with  a  fixed  detennination  to  conquer,  and 
a  cool  bravery,  which  are  the  offspring  only 
of  conscious  rectitude  and  hard-earned  ex- 
perience. Should  the  rebels  succeed,  they 
might  still  be  able  to  hold  their  capital  for 
months  longer,  and  even  to  ask  terms  on 
condition  of  laying  down  their  arms. 
Should  they  fail  and  the  Union  troops  take 
possession    of    the    road,  Petersburg   and 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       249 

Eichmond  must  be  abandoned,  Lee  and 
his  army  would  be  obliged  to  beat  an  in- 
glorious retreat,  the  termination  of  the  war 
would  become  a  certainty,  and  all  the  plans 
and  hopes  based  on  its  success,  would  vanish 
like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision. 

The  prize  was  a  great  one — prolonged  war 
or  speedy  peace — and  it  was  contended  for 
on  both  sides  with  a  valor  commensurate 
with  the  importance  of  the  issue  involved. 
Sheridan  was  everywhere  on  the  field 
during  the  battle,  issuing  orders,  animating 
his  men,  and  even  personally  putting  some 
battalions  and  brigades  into  position  under 
the  most  deadly  fire.  To  use  a  familiar 
phrase,  he  was  bound  to  win.  All  our  troops 
behaved  particularly  well,  and  the  Irish 
regiments  especially,  "  who,"  to  use  the 
words  of  a  general  ofiicer  present  in  the 
engagement,  ''  never  fought  so  splendidly." 

But  the  die  was  cast,  and  the  days  of  the 
so-called  Confederacy  were  numbered.  As 
the  shadows  of  the  sinking  sun  lengthened 
on  the  blood-stained  fields  and  woods  of 
Amelia,  the  enemy's  fire  became  irregular, 


250  irishmen's  sons. 

slackened,  drooped,  and  finally  ceased,  while 
a  prolonged  cheer  from  end  to  end  of  the 
lines,  repeated  again  and  again,  told  in 
unmistakable  tones  that  the  field  was  won. 
Once  again  the  flag  of  the  young  Republic 
floated  triumphantly  over  the  '^  sacred  soil" 
— sacred  now  indeed,  for  it  contains  the 
graves  of  tens  of  thousands  of  devoted 
Union  soldiers — and  the  '^  Stars  and  Bars," 
the  emblem  of  ingratitude,  crime,  and  trea- 
son, sunk  forever,  never  to  be  seen  again 
but  as  an  object  of  curiosity,  or  a  warning  to 
those  who  would  endeavor  to  climb  to  fame 
and  fortune  on  the  ruins  of  their  country. 

General  Grant,  in  Avriting  of  this  battle 
and  of  Shei-idan's  repulse,  well  said :  ^'  Here 
Major-General  Sheridan  displayed  great 
generalship.  Instead  of  retreating  with  his 
whole  command  on  the  main  army  to  tell 
the  story  of  superior  forces  encountered,  he 
deployed  his  cavalry  on  foot,  leaving  only 
mounted  men  enough  to  take  charge  of  the 
horses,"  thus  enabling  him  to  hold  his  posi- 
tion at  Dinwiddle  and  wait  for  reinforce- 
ments.     The  immediate  results   were  the 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.      251 

capture  of  some  guns,  a  quantity  of  small 
arms,  and  over  five  thousand  prisoners  ;  the 
not   very  remote    consequence   being    the 
evacuation  of  Petersburg,  the  surrender  of 
Richmond,  the  flight  of  the  rebel  government 
after  a  diabolical  attempt  to  fu-e  that  city,  the 
hasty  retreat  of  the  remnant  of  Lee's  army, 
and  the  ending  of  the  war  that  had  cost  the 
country  so  much  in  blood  and  treasure.    But 
Sheridan  could  not  rest  while  there  was  re- 
maining an  armed  enemy  of  the  Eepublic  to 
be  found  within  his  reach.    He  pursued  Lee's 
fugitives  with  lightning  rapidity,  cut  them 
off  from  their  line  of  retreat  on  Staunton, 
and  finally  so  hemmed  them  in  that  there 
was  no  alternative  left  but  total  and  uncon- 
ditional surrender.     When  the  rebel  com- 
mander offered  his  submission  and  yielded 
his  sword  to  Lieutenant-General  Grant  un- 
der the  famous  apple  tree  at  Appomattox, 
Sheridan  was  by  the  side  of  his  chief,  and 
doubtless  felt  that,  at  last,  in  the  words  for- 
merly uttered,  he  had  deserved  well  of  his 
country. 

The  war  was  at  length  over,  the  integ- 


252  miSHMEN^S    SONS. 

rity  of  the  Union,  establislied  by  our  fore- 
fathers after  years  of  struggle,  suffering,  and 
self-denial,  restored,  and  the  volunteer  army, 
amounting  to  over  one  million  of  men,  re- 
turned to  civil  life  and  to  their  anxious 
families.  Let  us  pause  for  a  moment  and 
take  a  retrospective  view  of  its  origin, 
prosecution,  and  grand  results,  not  as  mere 
politicians  or  factious  partisans,  but  as  lovers 
of  our  common  country  who  wish  to  profit 
by  the  deai'ly-bought  lessons  of  practical 
warfare  and  desire  to  shield  our  children 
from  the  horrors  of  such  an  internecine  war 
as  many  of  us  have  witnessed  in  the  last 
decade,  and  from  the  influence  of  which  few 
households  were  exempt. 

The  first  symptoms  of  secession  appeared 
in  the  more  conservative  body  of  oiu'  na- 
tional legislature  during  the  first  term  of 
President  Jackson.  It  arose  out  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  high  protective  tariff  objection- 
able to  South  Carolina,  and  the  two  senators 
from  that  State,  notably  Mr.  Calhoun,  from 
their  places  in  the  Senate  openly  avowed 
their  belief  that  a  State  had  the  rio-ht,  under 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.      253 

or  beyond  the  Constitution,  to  nullify  a  law 
of  the  United  States.  This  was  followed  by 
a  convention  which  actually  and  expressly 
passed  an  ordinance  of  nullification,  which 
was  subsequently  indorsed  by  the  legis- 
lature. Then  followed  the  arming,  equipping, 
and  drilling  of  the  State  militia.  Mr.  Clay's 
Compromise  bill  and  Jackson's  firmness  for 
a  time  averted  the  danger.  But  Mr.  Calhoun 
had  a  deeper  purpose  than  the  mere  collec- 
tion of  revenue,  as  well  as  a  deep-seated 
hostility  to  the  President.  His  next  cause 
of  complaint  was  the  use  made  of  the 
United  States  mail  by  a  few  anti-slavery 
men  of  the  North,  and  though  a  pronounced 
State  Rights  man  he  insisted  that  laws 
should  he  passed  by  certain  States  to  sup- 
press the  anti-slavery  societies.  ^In  this  he 
again  failed,  and  he  and  those  who  agreed 
with  him  commenced  a  course  of  speaking 
and  writing  tending  greatly  to  exaggerate 
the  strength  and  importance  of  the  aboli- 
tionists, and  thus  alarm  and  estrange  the  peo- 
ple of  the  South  from  their  brethren  of  the 
free  States.     In  vain  the  representatives  of 


254  irishmen's  sons. 

these  States  almost  unanimously  protested 
against  such  statements ;  in  vain  they  who 
ought  to  know  best  declared  that  the  oppo- 
sition to  slavery  where  it  existed  was  con- 
fined to  an  impotent  and  theoretical  few. 
The  virus  of  secession  had  inoculated  the 
body  politic,  and  it  was  ah-eady  exhibiting 
s}niiptoms  of  disease.  The  dragons'  teeth 
were  sown,  and  they  eventually  grew  up 
armed  men.  In  proportion  as  the  discon- 
tent in  the  South  increased,  the  anti-slavery 
sentiment  spread  in  the  free  States,  each 
faction  feeding  on  the  pabulum  supplied  by 
the  other  till  so  strong  became  the  antago- 
nistic feelings  that  a  resort  to  arms  was  but 
a  question  of  time. 

Besides,  another  element  was  introduced 
into  the  struggle  between  the  years  1840  and 
1860.  That  was  immigration,  by  which 
our  new  States  and  tenitories  were  rapidly 
filled  up,  and  attained,  through  their  repre- 
sentatives in  Congress,  a  large  share  of  legis- 
lative power  and  executive  patronage.  In  a 
free  country  like  ours,  power  always  follows 
population,  and  the  leaders  of  the  South  be- 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.      255 

gan  to  fear  that  the  day  was  not  far  distant 
when  they  would  be  in  a  helpless  minority 
in  Congress.  They  tried  to  avoid  this,  to 
them  impending  e\dl,  by  trying  to  induce 
immigrants  to  settle  in  their  section,  but  to 
no  purpose,  for  with  their  peculiar  system 
of  labor  white  competition  was  impossible. 
The  crisis  at  last  came.  The  disruption 
of  the  Charleston  and  Baltimore  demo- 
cratic conventions,  if  not  the  result  of  a 
mature  plan,  answered  the  purpose  of  the 
secessionists  as  well,  and  the  election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  consequence  of  the  division  in 
the  democratic  ranks  was  the  signal  for  the 
rupture.  Thus  the  quarrel  that  had  been 
commenced  by  a  few  fanatics  on  either  side 
grew  by  degrees  to  such  magnitude  that  it 
involved  the  middle  conservative  classes  on 
both  sides,  and  divided  the  country  into 
two  hostile  camps.  Though  the  conduct 
and  language  of  the  New  England  bigots 
cannot  be  defended,  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  the  South  was  the  aggressor  and  there- 
fore wrong.  It  sought  redress  by  other 
than  constitutional  means ;    it   confiscated 


256  irishmen's  sons. 

the  public  property,  fired  on  the  flag  of  the 
Eepubhc,  defied  the  law,  and  set  up  a  quasi 
independent  government  within  the  United 
States,  utterly  opposed  to  that  which  it 
had  helped  to  form  and  was  so  solemnly 
pledged  to  sustain. 

There  was  no  remedy  left  to  the  national 
authorities  but  to  put  down  by  armed  force 
this  formidable  rebellion.  But  as  we  had 
been  at  peace  for  nearly  half  a  century, 
excepting  the  short  period  of  the  Mexican 
war,  the  countiy  was  at  first  slow  to  assert 
its  authority,  and  the  Executive  was  not 
always  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  its 
agents.  In  the  southwest,  during  the 
first  three  years  of  the  war,  much  was  done 
to  restore  peace  and  order,  but  in  the  east 
very  little.  So  little  indeed  that  when 
Grant  commenced  his  campaign  in  the 
spring  of  1864,  the  enemy  held  all  the 
strong  positions  between  Richmond  and  the 
Rappahannock  river,  and  the  Peninsula 
down  to  Fort  Monroe.  Long  and  difficult 
marches  had  been  made  without  ceasing, 
sometimes  over  and  over  the  same  route,  by 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       257 

the  troops,  and  numerous  bloody  battles 
had  been  fought  and  some  barren  victories 
gained,  but  the  fact  remained  uncontested 
that  the  enemy,  so  far  from  being  subdued 
after  three  years'  strife,  were,  in  the  winter 
of  1863-4,  safely  encamped  within  a  day's 
march  of  the  position  occupied  by  them  in 
the  summer  of  1861,  when  the  somewhat 
absurd  battle  of  Bull  Run  was  fought.  The 
cause  of  this  lamentable  failure  is  not  to  be 
attributed  to  the  inefficiency  or  want  of  bra- 
very on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  low  rank 
and  enlisted  men,  but  to  the  incapacity  and 
mutual  jealousies  of  the  generals,  hardly  any 
two  of  whom  could  agree  on  any  particular 
plan  or  method  of  prosecuting  a  campaign. 
There  was  no  unity  of  opinion,  no  concert 
of  action,  no  subordination  of  the  will 
to  superior  authority  and  judgment — the 
very  Hfe  and  soul  of  all  military  organiza- 
tions. It  was  only  when  Grant  assumed 
the  supreme  command  and  selected  his  own 
officers — men  who  knew  no  favoritism,  and 
had  no  old  grudges  to  satisfy — that  the  army 

of  the  Potomac  commenced  to  move   on 
9 


258  irishmen's  sons. 

tinintemipteclly  to  victory.  Cavalry  officers 
there  had  been  by  the  dozen,  whose  head- 
quarters were  supposed  to  be  in  the  saddle,  - 
and  their  brains  probably  in  the  same  place, 
who  were  constantly  making*  great  incur- 
sions and  generally  contri^ang  to  get  beaten, 
but  it  was  only  when  Sheridan  took  hold 
of  this  branch  of  the  ser^dce  that  his  horse- 
men learned  to  fight  battles  and  win  them. 
The  results  of  the  successful  prosecution 
of  the  war  by  such  men  were  most  mo- 
mentous, and  can  only  be  appreciated  by 
a  consideration  of  what  would  have  been  the 
consequences,  had  the  rebels  succeeded: 
a  humiliated  people  ;  the  perpetual  enslave- 
ment of  four  millions  of  human  beings ;  a 
divided  Republic,  first  into  two  parts  and 
eventually  into  half  a  dozen ;  a  second  Mexi- 
co, on  a  larger  and  more  enduring  scale  of 
strife  and  hostility ;  the  failure  of  republican 
institutions  at  home,  and  the  death-blow  of 
liberal  institutions  abroad.  Surely  a  man 
who  by  his  own  intrinsic  merits,  by  his 
daring,  courage,  and  admirable  generalship, 
contributed  so  much  as  Sheridan  did,  de- 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.       259 

serves  all  the  honors  that  a  generous  and 
admh'ing  nation  have  showered  upon  him. 

There  was,  however,  one  man  then  in 
power,  whose,  soul  was  so  small,  or  so  venal, 
that  he  could  not  join  in  the  general  song 
of  praise.  That  was  Andrew  Johnson,  the 
only  man  that  ever  disgraced  the  presiden- 
tial chair.  In  the  spring  of  1867,  Major- 
General  Sheridan  was  appointed  to  the 
command  of  the  Fifth  Military  Division, 
comprising  the  States  of  Louisiana  and 
Texas.  His  duties  here  were  of  a  very 
delicate  and  difficult  natm-e,  but  he  was 
equal  to  the  occasion,  and  performed  them 
with  great  tact  and  determination.  He 
facilitated  as  much  as  possible  the  recon- 
struction of  that  portion  of  the  South,  en- 
deavored to  win  back  the  people  to  their 
allegiance,  more  by  kindness  and  the  im-- 
partial  administration  of  justice  than  by 
force,  and  even  went  so  far  in  the  legitimate 
exercise  of  his  power  as  to  remove  the 
provisional  governors  of  the  two  States  men- 
tioned, because  they  were  impediments  to, 
rather  than  assistants  of  the  reconstruction 


260  irishmen's  sons. 

laws  of  Congress.  But  because  lie  was 
understood  to  sympathize  with  that  body  in 
its  opposition  to  the  illegal  proceedings  of 
President  Johnson,  he  was  removed  from 
his  command  in  the  following  August, 
against  the  express  wishes  of  General  Grant, 
then  Commander-in-Chief,  who  declared  that 
Sheridan  had  performed  his  civil  duties 
faithfully  and  intelligently,  and  earnestly 
protested  against  it.  Sheridan,  however,  to 
gratify  the  petty  malice  of  the  accidental 
president,  was  ordered  to  take  command  of 
the  Department  of  the  Mississippi.  He 
was,  notwithstanding,  subsequently  commis- 
sioned Lieutenant- General,  and  is  now  in 
command  of  the  division  of  the  north-west 
with  headquarters  at  Chicago. 

Fortunately  for  the  country,  Lieutenant- 
General  Sheridan  is  still  alive,  and  after  all 
his  dangers  and  hardships  is  in  robust  health 
and  likely  to  live  many  years  to  serve  his 
country  and  even  to  add  new  laurels  to  the 
wreath  already  entwined  round  his  sword. 
We  are  tempted  to  violate  the  canons  of 
biographers  of  the  living,  which  say, ''  Praise 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    SHERIDAN.      261 

no  man  till  he  is  dead,"  by  a  few  commen- 
taries on  his  private  character;  but  knowing 
that  this  is  a  censorious  world,  and  that 
no  one  is  free  from  the  accusation  of  flattery 
who  speaks  even  less  than  the  truth  of  the 
fortunate  and  meritorious,  we  forbear.  This, 
however,  we  will  say  of  the  gallant  soldier, 
and  we  have  it  on  the  authority  of  a  clerical 
friend  well  conversant  with  the  facts,  that 
from  the  day  he  left  West  Point  as  a  brevet 
second  lieutenant  till  his  acceptance  at  the 
hands  of  the  President  and  Congress  of  the 
proud  title  he  now  bears,  he  has  never  for 
a  moment  forgot  those  good  and  humble 
parents  to  whom  he  owes  his  being  and 
his  first  lessons  in  morality  and  religion; 
and  that,  amid  all  the  seductions  and  excite- 
ment of  an  exceedingly  active  military 
life,  he  has  constantly  remembered  them, 
and  the  teachings  which  they  instilled  into 
his  heart  in  early  childhood.  He  has  at 
least  observed  that  portion  of  the  decalogue 
which  commands  us,  ^^  Honor  thy  father 
and  thy  mother  that  thy  days  shall  be  long 
in  the  land." 


FIELDMARSHAL    LEOPOLD 
O'DONNELL, 

COUNT  OF  LUCENA  AND  DUKE  OF  TETUAN. 

There  is  no  family  of  Irish  birth  or 
extraction  that  has  been  more  generally 
distinguished  at  home  and  abroad  for  high 
military  qualities  and  personal  nobility  of 
conduct  than  that  of  O'Donnell,  or,  as  it  was 
called  in  mediaeval  history,  Cinel  Conaill. 
Other  houses,  like  those  of  O'Neill,  O'Brien, 
and  O'Conor,  possessed  wider  domains, 
exercised  at  times  broader  sway,  and  occa- 
sionally produced  soldiers  and  statesmen  of 
greater  abilities  and  more  enduring  fame,  but 
to  the  O'Donnells  belongs  the  transcendent 
merit  of  having  been  ever  and  in  all  places 
consistent  lovers  of  Ireland,  enlightened 
patrons  of  learning,  and  devoted  as  well  as 
practical  adherents  to  the  ancient  faith. 
Almost  without  an  exception,  they  were 
found  on  all  occasions  faithful  even  amid 
the  faithless,  and  when  others  were  willing 


FIELDMARSHAL  O^DONKELL.     263 

to  sacrifice  the  general  good  for  the  sake  of 
private  ends,  or  to  gratify  individual  malice 
at  the  expense  of  principle,  the  princes 
of  Tyrconnell  invariably  were  found  tme 
to  the  national  cause,  literature,  and  religion. 
For  nearly  eight  centuries  they  manfully 
opposed  by  every  effort  in  their  power  the 
Danish  and  Anglo-Noraian  invaders,  with 
no  ambition  but  to  serve  their  native  land, 
and  no  foe  to  chastise  save  the  armed  plun- 
derers of  their  common  country.  From  the 
time  of  their  great  ancestor  Dulach,  hered- 
itary Prince  of  Tyrconnell  (Donegal),  do^Ti 
to  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, the  sword  of  the  O'Donnells  scarcely 
ever  rested  in  its  scabbard,  and  while  the 
hand  of  friendship  was  always  extended  to 
their  fellow  chieftains,  their  arm  was  potent 
to  smite  the  native  traitors  as  well  as  the 
foreign  desp oiler.  As  an  evidence  of  this 
undying  sphit  of  resistance  to  foreign  ag- 
gression, we  may  be  allowed  to  quote,  from 
the  historical  lectures  of  the  late  Professor 
Eugene  O'Curry,  the  following  comments 
on  a  very  old  poem  written  by  MacLonain, 


264  ieishmen's  sons. 

the  laureate  of  Eignechan,  son  of  Dulach, 
who  died  in  902: 

'^  The  most  curious  part  of  this  poem,  however,  very 
vaUiable  as  it  is  in  an  historical  point  of  view,  is  that  in 
which  we  are  told  that  the  chief  found  himself  compelled 
to  purchase  peace  and  exemption  fi*om  plunder  and 
devastation  for  his  territory  from  the  '  Danish  pirates,^ 
who  were  at  this  time  committing  fearful  depredations 
along  the  seaboard  of  the  island.  This  peace  and 
exemption  were  purchased  by  the  chief  consenting  to 
the  marriage  of  his  three  beautiful  daughters — Duib- 
hlinn,  Bebnadha,  and  Bebhin — to  three  of  the  pirate 
commanders,  whose  names  were  Cathais,  Turgeis,  and 
Tor.  After  the  marriage,  the  pirates  sailed  away  with 
their  wives  and  their  booty  to  Oarraic  Bracraighe,  in 
Inis  Eoghain,  now  called  Innishowen.  Here  however 
the  lady  Duibhlinn,  who  had  been  married  to  the 
pirate  chief  Cathais,  eloped  from  him  while  he  lay 
asleep,  taking  with  her  a  casket  containing  trinkets  to 
the  amount  of  one  thousand  ungas  in  gold ;  and  she 
succeeded  in  safely  making  her  escape  to  the  house  of 
Cathelan,  son  of  Maelfabhaill,  the  chief  of  that  district, 
who  had  been  formerly  her  lover,  and  under  whose 
guardianship  she  was  the  more  ready  to  place  herself. 
When  the  pirate  awoke  and  found  his  bride  and  his 
casket  gone,  he  flew  in  a  rage  to  her  father,  and 
threatened  to  have  his  territory  ravaged  if  he  did  not 
restore  to  him  his  casket.  This  Eigviechan  undertook 
to  do  ]  and  he  invited  the  Dane  to  come  on  a  certain 


FIELDMARSHAL    O^DONNELL.  265 

day,  uith  his  brother  commanders,  and  all  their  imme- 
diate followers,  to  his  court  at  Clann  Maghain,  in 
Donegal,  where  the  gold  should  be  restored,  and  the 
company  royally  entertained.  The  Danes  arrived,  and 
were  well  entertained  accordingly;  after  which  the 
company  retired  to  the  lawn  of  the  court,  w^here  stood  a 
tree  upon  which  the  Tyrconnellian  warriors  were  accus- 
tomed to  try  their  comparative  strength  and  dexterity, 
and  the  metal  and  sharpness  of  their  swords,  by  striking 
their  mightiest  strokes  into  its  trunk.  The  company,  by 
Eignechan's  an'angement,  sat  in  circles  around  this  tree, 
for  the  usual  purpose ;  the  chiefs  of  both  parties  standing 
nearest  to  it.  Eignechan  then  stood  up  to  open  the 
sports ;  and  drawing  his  sword,  he  struck  at  the  tree,  but 
designedly  missed  it ;  the  weapon  glancing  off  with  im- 
mense force,  struck  his  reputed  son-in-law,  the  Dane 
Cathais,  on  the  head,  killing  him  on  the  spot.  This 
was  a  preconcerted  signal  for  the  Tyrconnellians,  who 
instantly  rushed  on  the  rest  of  the  band  of  their  enemies, 
and  quickly  put  them  all  to  the  sword. 

^'  The  number  of  Danes  on  this  occasion  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  stated  number  of  their  ships,  which  was 
one  hundred  and  twenty ;  and  it  is  stated  that  not  one 
of  their  crews  escaped. 

''  Eignechan  then  demanded  and  received  the  casket 
of  gold  from  his  daughter  -,  and  he  gave  it  all  away  on 
the  spot,  in  proper  proportions,  to  the  tribes  and  to  the 
chief  churches  of  his  principality.  Just,  however,  as  he 
had  concluded  the  distribution  of  the  whole  of  the  pi- 
ratical spoil,  MacLonain,  with  his  company  of  learned 


266  IRISHMEN'S    SONS. 

men  and  pupils,  happened  to  arrive  on  the  lawn,  on  a 
professional  visit  to  his  patron.  And  here  we  have  a 
characteristic  trait  of  the  manners  of  the  times.  When 
the  chief  saw  the  poet,  and  found  himself  with  empty 
hands,  he  blushed,  and  was  silent  5  but  his  generous 
people  perceiving  his  confusion,  immediately  knew  the 
cause,  and  came  forward  to  a  man,  placing  each  his 
part  of  the  gold  in  the  hands  of  his  chief.  Eignechan's 
face  brightened ;  he  re-divided  the  gold,  giving  the 
poet  a  share  of  it  proportionate  to  his  rank  and  profes' 
siou,  and  disposing  of  the  remainder  among  those  who 
had  so  generously  relieved  him  from  his  embarrassment." 

The  patriotism  and  liberality  of  the  son 
of  Dulach  seem  to  have  been  transmitted 
imimpaired  to  his  descendants.  It  was 
under  their  protection  and  patronage  that 
the  learned  family  of  the  O'Clerys,  authors 
of  the  ^'Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,"  and 
their  no  less  erudite  ancestors  flomished, 
two  of  whom,  the  celebrated  Diarmit 
O'Clerigh  and  his  son  Taghg  Cam,  taught 
the  lay  college  of  the  ^' Three  Schools,"  of 
literature,  history,  and  philosophy,  as  late 
as  the  fifteenth  century.  In  1474,  Hugh  Roe 
O'Donnell  built  and  richly  endowed  the 
Franciscan  monastery  of  Donegal,  which 
existed  for  one  hundi'ed  and  twenty-seven 


FIELDMAESHAL  O^DONNELL.      267 

years,  shedding  innumerable  blessings  on 
the  surrounding  population,  until  confiscated 
and  dismantled  in  the  last  days  of  the 
bloody  Queen  Elizabeth.  Of  the  condition 
of  this  once  famous  house  while  the  O'Don- 
nels  held  sway,  Father  Mooney,  in  his 
Latin  Manuscript  translated  by  the  Rev.  G. 
P.  Meehan,  says : 

"  Nor  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  we  lacked  wherewithal 
to  tempt  the  cupidity  of  the  sacrilegious,  were  such  to 
be  found  among  the  clansmen  of  Tyrone  or  Tyrconnell. 
•  Quite  the  contrary  ',  for  many  years  afterwards,  when  I 
was  sacristan,  no  monastery  in  the  land  could  make  a 
goodlier  show  of  gold  and  silver  than  ours.  During  the 
time  I  held  that  office,  I  had  in  my  custody  forty  suits 
of  vestments,  many  of  them  of  cloth  of  gold  and  silver — 
some  interwoven  and  brocaded  with  gold,  the  remainder 
silk.  We  had  also  sixteen  silver  chalices,  which,  two 
excepted,  were  washed  with  gold ;  nor  should  I  forget 
two  splendid  ciboriums  inlaid  with  precious  stones,  and 
every  other  requisite  for  the  altars.  This  rich  furniture 
was  the  gift  of  the  princes  of  Tyrconnell  j  and  as  I 
said  before,  no  matter  what  prey  the  Tyronians  might 
lift  off  O'Donnell's  lands,  there  was  no  one  impious 
enough  to  desecrate  or  spoil  our  sacred  treasury.  We 
fed  the  poor,  comforted  them  in  their  sorrows,  educated 
the  scions  of  the  princely  house  to  whom  we  owed  every- 
thing, chronicled  the  achievements  of  their  race,  prayed 


268  IRISHMEN'S   SONS. 

for  the  souls  of  our  founders  and  benefactors,  chanted 
the  divine  offices  day  and  night  with  great  solemnity  j 
and  while  thus  engaged,  the  tide  of  war  swept  harm- 
lessly by  our  hallowed  walls." 

Such  was  the  happy  state  of  this  centf-e 
of  piety  and  charity,  long  after  the  intro- 
duction of  the  "  Reformation,"  in  Ireland ; 
but  the  wars  here  alluded  to  as  harmlessly 
sweeping  by,  were  simply  attempts,  often 
renewed,  by  Shane  O'Neill,  to  conquer  all 
Ulster,  but  who,  though  in  many  respects  an 
unscrupulous  soldier,  generally  venerated 
the  temjDles  and  houses  dedicated  to  God. 
The  troops  of  the  ^'  Pale,"  the  sanguinary 
apostles  of  English  Protestantism,  were  less 
fastidious,  for  nothing  was  too  sacred  or  too 
venerated  to  escape  their  brutal  fury. 

The  last  of  the  native  princes  who  ruled  in 
Donegal  was  Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell,  who,  in 
conjunction  with  his  brother-in-law,  *■  ^  Aodha" 
(Hugh)  O'Neill,  waged  war  with  the  Eng- 
lish forces  for  several  years,  sometimes  with 
the  most  brilliant  success ;  but  at  length,  out- 
numbered and  exhausted,  was  obliged  to 
abandon  the   unequal  struggle  and  retire 


FIELDMAESHAL  o'dONNELL.     269 

to  the  Continent  in  1601.  Hugh  Roe  lived 
abroad  several  years,  often  the  honored 
guest  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs,  or  at  some  of 
the  Catholic  coui'ts,  eventually  dying  at 
Valladolid,  in  Spain,  where  he  was  buried 
with  all  the  ceremonies  befitting  his  rank 
and  faith.  With  him  departed  from  Ireland 
forever  many  of  the  principal  men  of  his 
name  who  had  sm-vived  the  war,  and  who, 
entering  the  service  of  Italy,  Austria,  or 
Spain,  rose  to  high  positions  in  the  army  and 
councils  of  their  respective  governments. 
The  subsequent  wars  of  the  ''  Confederation 
of  Kilkenny,"  and  of  James  II,  added  mate- 
rially to  their  numbers.  This  was  particu- 
larly so  in  the  last-named  nation,  where  their 
descendants,  even  in  our  day,  not  only  have 
held  many  of  the  most  distinguished  offices 
in  the  state,  but  have  enjoyed  social  eminence 
and  civic  honors  equal  to  those  of  the  high- 
est grandees  of  that  proud  and  exclusive 
class.  Their  high  breeding,  intense  catho- 
licity, and  elevated  sense  of  honor,  were 
thoroughly  understood  and  appreciated  by 
the  knights  of  Castile  and  Ai-agon,  and  in 


270  irishmen's  sons. 

turn  the  O'Donnells  became  thorouglily 
imbued  with  the  hopes,  aspirations,  and  un- 
swerving patriotism  of  their  adopted  land, 
w^ithout,  however,  forgetting  that  of  their 
ancestors  and  of  tlie  scene  of  their  ancient 
glory. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  in  the  history  of 
the  Irish  exiles  of  the  last  two  or  three  hun- 
dred years,  that  while  they  were  everywhere 
welcomed,  their  bravery  and  martial  skill 
gladly  utilized,  and  their  services  generally 
well  rewarded  by  the  governments  under 
which  they  served,  it  was  in  Spain  alone 
that  the  full  measure  of  hospitality  and  re- 
ward was  meted  out  to  them,  and  where 
they  were  not  alone  honored  in  court  and 
camp  as  wise  advisers  and  true  soldiers,  but 
admitted  into  the  closest  family  alliances. 
Well  has  the  poet,  addressing  Ireland,  said : 

Mother  of  soldiers !  in  the  cause  of  Spain 
The  Moors  in  Grants  trench  by  them  were  slain  j 
For  full  a  hundred  years  their  fatal  steel 
Has  charged  beside  the  lances  of  Castile, 
Carb'rj'^'s,  Tyrconnell's,  BrefFny's  exiled  lords 
To  Spain  and  glory  gave  their  gallant  swords. 


FIELDMARSHAL    o'dONNELL.  271 

And  Spain,  of  honor  jealous,  gave  them  place 
Before  her  native  sons  in  glory's  race ; 
Her  noblest  laurels  graced  your  soldier's  head, 
Her  dearest  daughters  shared  your  soldier's  bed : 
In  danger's  hour  she  called  them  to  the  front, 
And  gave  to  them  the  praise  who  bore  the  brunt ; 
Mother  of  Soldiers  !  Spain  to-day  will  be 
A  willing  witness  for  thy  sons  and  thee  ! " 

From  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century  to  the  present  time  the  name  of 
O'Donnell  has  been  a  famihar  one  in  the 
Spanish  army  lists,  earning  and  honorably 
holding  their  commissions  from  the  lowest 
to  the  highest  grades  in  the  service,  and  the 
subject  of  the  present  sketch  may  be  taken 
as  an  illustration  of  the  varied  career  of  the 
entire  family. 

His  father  was  Lieutenant-General 
Charles  O'Donnell  and  his  mother  Donna 
Josephine  Goris.  While  General  O'Donnell 
was  discharging  the  duties  of  Viceroy  of 
Teneriffe,  his  son  Leopold  was  born  at  Santa 
Cruz,  the  capital  of  the  island,  in  January, 
1809.  From  his  birth  he  was.  destined  for 
the  military  profession,  and  like  the  illus- 
trious Lally  Tollendal,  he  was  trained  up 


272  irishi^ien's  sons. 

to  the  use  of  arms  from  early  childhood. 
At  the  age  of  ten  years,  having,  as  it  was 
supposed,  completed  his  primary  education, 
he  was  commissioned  sous-lieutenant  in 
the  Spanish  army  known  as  the  Imperial 
Alexander.  This  was  no  mere  nominal  ap- 
pointment, no  empty  compliment  like  that 
so  frequently  paid  to  the  infant  scions  of 
royal  houses  in  Europe,  but  involved  the 
performance  of  actual  duties  and  the  multifa- 
rious responsibilities  of  a  soldier's  life.  In 
the  following  year,  we  find  him  at  the  head- 
quarters of  his  regiment  at  Ocana,  when 
the  so-called  liberal  constitution  of  1812 
was  proclaimed  by  another  O'Donnell,  the 
Conde  del  Abisbal;  but  though  his  father 
and  his  near  relatives  were  opposed  to 
such  a  revolutionary  step,  and  even  left  the 
service  for  a  time,  young  Leopold  remained 
at  his  post,  and  continued,  with  unabated 
ardor,  the  study  of  the  profession  of  which 
he  was  destined  to  be  so  shining  an  orna- 
ment. Not  without  an  interruption  however. 
His  mother,  it  seems,  thinking  the  boy  too 
young  for  the  hardships  and  tem23tations 


FIELDMARSHAL  o'dONNELL.     273 

of  camp  life,  or  displeased  with  the 
conduct  of  the  temporary  government,  re- 
solved to  pass  into  France  and  take  her 
son  with  her.  For  this  offence  of  being  ab- 
sent without  leave  the  little  lieutenant  was 
court-martialled  on  his  return,  but  upon  the 
hearing  of  the  charge  was  honorably  ac- 
quitted. 

Thus  we  see  that  at  an  age  when 
most  boys  are  found  at  school,  and  their 
leism^e  time  devoted  to  toys  and  the  allure- 
ments, of  the  confectioner,  young  Leopold 
O'Donnell's  life  had  already  become  event- 
ful ;  a  foretaste  of  what  was  yet  in  store 
for  him  when  the  trying  times,  which  were 
soon  to  desolate  his  country,  should  arrive. 

When,  in  1823,  the  French  army  under 
the  Due  d'Angouleme,  son  of  Charles  X, 
entered  Spain  to  support  Ferdinand  VII, 
O'Donnell  was  at  Valladolid;  and  soon  after 
we  find  him  on  the  staff  of  the  Division  of 
Castile,  as  aide  to  the  commanding  gene- 
ral. In  this  capacity  he  was  present  at  the 
siege  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo,  and  so  distin- 
guished himself  by  intrepidity  and  cool- 


274  iRismiEN's  SONS. 

ness  under  fii-e  that  he  was  forthwith  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  full  lieutenant.  Soon 
after  he  was  commissioned  capcain  in  the 
royal  Guards,  a  rank  which  he  held  up  to 
the  death  of  Ferdinand  VII. 

This  latter  event,  which  took  place  on 
the  29th  of  September,  1833,  was  the  fruit- 
ful cause  of  all  the  miseries  which  have 
cursed  the  Spanish  peninsula  to  the  pres- 
ent moment — anarchy,  pestilence,  blood- 
shed, and  rapine.  Though  commenced  more 
than  forty  years  ago,  the  ci\dl  war  inau- 
gm-ated  by  his  widow  Chi'istina  and  Don 
Carlos  is  still  raging  with  unabated  violence 
on  the  fair  plains  of  Ai-agon  and  in  the 
busy  towns  of  Catalonia,  though  most  of  the 
principals  in  the  quarrel  have  been  long 
since  called  to  their  great  account.  In 
order  that  the  reader  may  fully  understand 
the  position  of  Captain  O'Donnell  at  the 
commencement  of  hostilities  we  will  en- 
deavor to  sketch  briefly  the  merits  of  the 
contest. 

In  1700,  Charles  II  of  Spain  found  him- 
self at  the  point  of  death ;  and,  ha\'ing  no 


FIELDMAESHAL    O^DONNELL.  275 

issue  he  was  unable  to  determine  which  of 
the  numerous  candidates  to  the  succession  he 
ought  to  favor.  The  Austrian  party  ad- 
vocated the  claims  of  that  house,  while  those 
attached  to  the  Bourbons  were  warmly  in 
favor  of  one  of  the  sons  of  the  Dauphin  of 
France,  who  was  himself  the  child  of  a 
Spanish  princess,  the  daughter  of  Philip 
ly.  In  this  dilemma  Charles  submitted  the 
question  to  Pope  Innocent  XII,  who  in  turn 
laid  it  before  three  of  the  most  learned  and 
experienced  of  his  cardinals.  They,  after 
mature  deliberation,  decided  that  ^'his 
Catholic  Majesty  was  in  conscience  bound 
to  entail  the  succession  upon  the  Due 
d'Anjou  or  the  Due  de  Berri,  the  younger 
sons  of  the  Dauphin,  provided  proper  pre- 
cautions were  taken  against  the  union  of  the 
two  crowns."  This  decision  was  trans- 
mitted to  Charles,  with  an  autograph  letter 
from  the  PontiJBf,  in  which  he  expressed  his 
solemn  concurrence,  and  the  King,  thus 
fortified,  acted  accordingly.  Soon  after  he 
died,  and  D'Anjou  became  his  successor 
under  the  title  of  Philip  V. 


276  IRISHMEN'S    SONS. 

This  family  alliance  between  France  and 
Spain  led  to  the  long  and  sanguinary  War 
of  the  Succession,  in  which  England  and 
Austria  combined,  without  success,  to  drive 
Philip  from  the  throne  of  Spain.  The  strug- 
gle lasted  twelve  years,  and  was  ended  by 
the  treaty  of  Uti-echt,  July  13th,  1713. 
In  that  treaty  it  was  agreed  that  France 
and  Spain  should  forever  remain  under 
separate  governments,  and  Philip,  in  com- 
pliance with  its  conditions,  solemnly  relin- 
quished his  claims  on  the  crown  of  France 
to  his  brother  De  Bern  and  his  heirs. 

To  make  the  matter  more  certain,  however, 
he  resolved  to  limit  the  succession  to  the 
Spanish  throne  in  the  male  line.  The  pro- 
ject of  the  monarch  was  laid  before  the 
Councils  of  State  and  of  Castile,  and  having 
been  duly  considered  was  unanimously  ap- 
proved by  them.  The  Deputies  of  the 
Cortes  were  then  in  session  in  Madrid,  and, 
by  order  of  the  king,  letters  were  sent  to 
every  privileged  city  and  town  on  the  10th 
of  May,  1713,  instructing  them  to  send  their 
delegates    ''full   and  sufficient   powers   to 


FIELDMAESHAL    O^DONNELL.  277 

confer  and  deliberate  upon  this  subject." 
The  law  limiting  the  succession  to  the  male 
line  was  then  duly  and  legally  passed,  and 
hence  the  introduction  of  what  is  called  the 
^^  Salic  law''  into  the  Spanish  constitution. 
In  1789,  the  Cortes,  at  the  instigation,  it  is 
said,  of  Count  Floridablanca,  minister  of 
Charles  IV,  petitioned  that  sovereign  to  de- 
clare by  pragmatic  sanction  the  abrogation 
of  the  law  of  1713  and  a  return  to  ''  the  old 
law  of  succession."  For  some  reason 
Charles  neglected  to  comply  with  the  prayer 
of  the  petition,  and  it  was  only  in  1830, 
forty  years  afterwards,  that  Ferdinand  YII 
issued  his  decree  which  commenced  as  fol- 
lows :  '"''  Pragmatic  sanction  having  the 
force  of  law,  decreed  by  King  Charles  IV, 
on  the  petition  of  the  Cortes  for  the  year 
1789,  and  ordered  to  be  published  by  his 
reigning  majesty  (Ferdinand  VII)  for  the 
perpetual  observance  of  Law  2,  title  15,  par- 
tida  2,  establishing  the  regular  succession 
of  the  crown  of  Spain." 

Hitherto  the  existence  of  this  law  No.  2, 
etc.,  had  been  unknown  to  the  Spanish  pub- 


278  irishmen's  sons. 

lie,  and  it  soon  became  apparent  that  Ferdi- 
nand had  some  object  in  thus  doing  away 
with  the  Sahc  law.  It  was  this :  the  king  had 
been  married  to  three  wives  in  succession, 
all  of  whom  had  died  without  leaving  issue. 
He  therefore  resolved  to  many  a  fourth,  and 
selected  Clmstina  of  Naples.  The  wedding 
took  place  on  the  11th  of  December,  1829. 
Two  daughters  were  the  result  of  this  union, 
the  older  of  whom,  Isabel,  was  destined  by 
her  vacillating  father  and  ambitious  mother 
to  fill  the  throne  of  Spain.  As  long  as  the 
Salic  law  was  in  existence  no  female  could 
occupy  this  position,  and  consequently  the 
succession  would  devolve  on  Ferdinand's 
brother,  Don  Carlos,  and  next,  to  his  sons,  of 
whom  he  had  three  then  living.  The  king, 
therefore,  influenced  doubtless  by  his  aspir- 
ing consort,  determined  to  remove  this  ob- 
struction to  his  daughter's  elevation,  and 
though  in  1832,  during  a  fit  of  sickness,  he 
annulled  the  decree  of  1830,  he  no  sooner 
recovered  than,  having  previously  appointed 
the  Queen  Regent,  he  authorized  the  nullifi- 
cation of  his  pre\dous  act.    ^'  His  royal  mind 


FIELDMARSHAL  O^DONNELL.     279 

having  been  taken  by  surprise,"  said  the 
Queen  Regent's  decree  of  December,  1832, 
"  in  moments  of  agony  to  which  he  had  been 
brought  by  a  serious  malady,  he  signed  a 
decree  repeahng  the  pragmatic  sanction 
of  March  29th,  1830,  which  is  hereafter  to 
be  held  as  void  and  of  no  effect."  Early  in 
1833,  Ferdinand  assumed  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment again,  and  one  of  his  first  acts  was 
to  summon  the  Cortes  to  swear  allegiance 
to  the  Infanta,  which  was  accordingly  done 
on  the  20th  of  June,  only  three  months 
before  the  death  of  Ferdinand,  which  oc- 
cmTed  on  the  29th  of  September,  1833. 

The  issue  was  now  made  up,  and  civil 
war  was  inevitable.  Those  in  power,  head- 
ed by  the  Regent  Christina,  held  possession 
on  the  authority  of  the  decrees  of  1789, 1830, 
and  December,  1832;  while  Don  Carlos 
claimed  the  throne  on  the  ground  that  the 
Cortes  of  1789  had  no  power  to  repeal  the 
constitutional  provision  of  1713,  as  it  had 
been  summoned  for  one  specific  purpose, 
to  swear  allegiance  to  the  then  heir-appar- 
ent, and  as  he  himself  was  born  one  year 


280  irishmen's  sons. 

before  that  time  and  enjoyed  inchoate  vest- 
ed lights  to  the  thi'one,  neither  the  act  of 
the  Cortes  nor  the  pragmatic  sanction  of 
Ferdinand  could  deprive  him  of  them.  With 
the  former  were  the  so-called  Liberals  and 
the  communistic  element ;  with  the  Carlists, 
most  of  the  nobility  and  the  old  officers  of 
the  army,  and,  doubtless,  the  gi'eat  major- 
ity of  the  rmral  population,  particularly  in 
the  northern  provinces.  A  quadruple  treaty 
was  also  effected  against  Don  Carlos,  and 
Dom  Miguel,  an  aspirant  for  the  throne  of 
Portugal,  between  that  country,  France, 
England,  and  Christina,  by  which  it  was 
agreed  that  while  France  was  to  guard  her 
frontiers  against  the  entry  of  Don  Carlos's 
adherents  into  Spain,  and,  if  required,  send 
an  army  into  that  country  to  assist  the 
Clnistinos,  England  was  to  keep  watch  and 
ward  by  sea;  and  all  were  to  operate  in 
their  several  ways  against  the  Carlists  and 
Migu  elites. 

O'Donnell,  doubtless  for  good  reasons, 
took  the  side  of  the  queen,  though  his 
brother,  looking  on  Don  Carlos,  or  Charles 


FIELDMAESHAL  o'dONNELL.     281 

V,  as  the  rightful  monarch,  espoused  his 
cause  and  fought  with  great  bravery  and 
distinction  in  his  army.  We  have  seen 
that  Leopold  was  captain  of  the  Guards 
previous  to  Ferdinand's  demise  ;  immedi- 
ately on  the  commencement  of  hostilities 
he  was  placed  in  command  of  a  force  of 
grenadiers  forming  part  of  a  brigade  to 
which  was  assigned  the  defence  of  the  five 
principal  cities  of  Aragon  then  menaced 
by  the  insurgents  of  Navarre.  In  this 
position  his  conduct  was  considered  so 
meritorious,  that  he  was  speedily  promoted 
to  a  higher  command.  We  next  hear  of 
him  in  the  defiles  of  Mendigorria,  Arcos, 
Gruerarra,  Echerarri,  and  Erice,  where  he 
was  severely  wounded  while  leading  his 
men  to  a  charge ;  and  it  was  doubtless  for 
this  act  of  gallantry  that  he  was  gazetted  the 
1st  of  January,  1836,  as  colonel  of  the  regi- 
ment of  infantry  of  Gerona.  Wlien  able 
again  to  take  the  field  he  was  placed  in 
command  of  a  brigade,  consisting  of  his  own 
regiment  and  that  of  Malorca,  with  which 
he  took  possession  of  the  valley  of  the  Err 


282  irishmen's  sons. 

and  Roncesvalles,  driving  the  enemy  before 
him  in  all  directions. 

Soon  after,  O'Donnell  was  sent,  with  his 
brigade  and  a  regiment  of  cavalry,  to  the 
borders  of  Navarre,  to  protect  the  flank  of 
the  queen's  army  and  keep  open  its  com- 
munications with  Madrid,  and  in  doing  so 
he  had  an  opportunity  of  taking  a  prominent 
part  in  the  battle  of  Unza,  March  19th,  1836, 
for  which  he  received  his  commission  as 
brigadier-general.  From  June,  1836,  to 
May  of  the  following  year  General  O'Don- 
nell was  obliged  to  keep  away  from  active 
operations,  in  consequence  of  ill  health 
and  typhus  fever.  His  enforced  leisure 
was  spent  in  Vittoria  and  Logroilo.  No 
sooner,  however,  had  he  recovered  from  fever 
than,  against  the  earnest  remonstrances  of 
his  physicians,  for  his  wound  was  still  un- 
healed, he  again  took  the  field,  and  ha\T[ng 
joined  the  headquarters  of  the  army  at  San 
Sebastian,  he  was  permitted  to  take  part  in 
the  capture  of  the  lines  of  Oriamenti,  the 
suiTcnder  of  Hernani,  and  the  fall  of  Turen- 
ten-abia.     In  other  respects  he  also  did  good 


FIELDMARSHAL  O^DONNELL.     283 

service ;  for,  some  of  the  queen's  regiments 
having  about  this  time  mutinied,  he  quickly 
reduced  them  to  obedience,  as  much  by  his 
personal  influence  and  popularity  as  by 
any  display  of  force.  This  happily  effected, 
he  turned  his  attention  to  the  Carlists,  whom 
he  compelled  to  evacuate  Urrieta  and  Ano- 
ain,  and  on  December  27th  he  was  pro- 
moted major-general. 

Early  in  the  following  year  he  occupied 
the  defensive  lines  of  San  Sebastian,  in 
front  of  the  fortified  towns  of  Hernani, 
Artegaraga,  Oyarzun,  Irun,  and  Tuenter- 
rabia,  besides  twenty  redoubts  mounted  with 
cannon.  On  the  24th  of  June  he  fought 
the  enemy  and  drove  them  across  the  Oria, 
after  having  abandoned  their  works  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  river.  On  the  27th  he 
again  defeated  them  at  Oyarzun,  capturing 
many  prisoners  and  valuable  stores,  and 
early  in  October  he  entered  the  city  as  a 
conqueror. 

In  1839,  O'Donnell  was  appointed  to  the 
central  army  in  the  place  of  Nogueras,  and 
captain-general  of  the  kingdoms  of  Ai'agon, 


284  irishmen's  sons. 

Valentia,  and  Murcia.  The  enemies'  strong- 
holds were  then  in  Lower  Aragon,  in  the 
Maistrazzo  and  in  the  provinces  of  Castellon, 
Teruel,  Valencia,  and  Cuenca.  To  those 
places  his  early  attention  was  du'ected,  and 
before  the  close  of  the  campaign  he  had 
taken  and  destroyed  nearly  all  the  hostile 
forts  and  works,  and  routed  or  captui-ed 
their  defenders.  He  found  time  also  to  re- 
lieve Lucena,  then  only  defended  by  two 
thousand  troops ;  and,  with  but  eleven  bat- 
talions and  nine  hundred  horse,  to  signally 
defeat  General  Don  Ramon  Cabrera,  one  of 
the  ablest  and  most  experienced  officers  on 
either  side.  For  this  brilliant  victory  he 
was  rewarded  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant- 
Greneral  and  the  title  of  Count  of  Lucena. 

Thus,  though  twenty  years  a  soldier,  he 
had  not  attained  his  thirtieth  year  before  he 
had  won,  by  his  skill,  prudence,  and  desper- 
ate bravery,  a  military  command  and  a 
reputation  second  to  none  of  his  country- 
men. It  is  interesting  also  to  recollect  that 
a  portion,  at  least,  of  his  success  was  due 
to  the  gallantry  and  proverbial  bravery  of 


FIELDMARSHAL  o'dONNELL.     285 

the  countrymen  of  his  ancestors,  though  we 
are  by  no  means  inclined  to  applaud  the 
motives  which  induced  so  many  Irishmen 
at  this  juncture  to  leave  their  homes  and 
take  part  in  the  domestic  quarrels  of  a 
country  that  had  ever  been  friendly  to  them, 
merely  to  subserve  the  designs  of  a  disrep- 
utable British  minister. 

When  England  entered  into  the  quad- 
ruple alliance  of  1834,  she  stipulated  only 
for  the  employment  of  a  naval  force,  but 
with  her  usual  duplicity,  what  she  dared 
not  do  openly,  she  endeavored  to  effect 
by  subterfuge.  By  an  order  in  Council, 
dated  June  9th,  1835,  the  Foreign  Enlist- 
ment act  was  suspended  and  Colonel  Evans, 
himself,  unfortunately,  an  Irishman,  was 
selected  as  the  instrument  to  draw  his 
countrymen  into  the  meshes  of  a  foreign 
dispute,  in  which  they  could  by  no  pos- 
sibility be  concerned,  nor  from  the  results 
of  which  could  they  be  in  any  way  the 
gainers.  The  so-called  '^  British"  Legion 
was  however  raised,  not  one  in  a  hundred 
of  the  men  being  British,  and  sent  out  to 


286  irishmen's  sons. 

Spain.  Duiing  most  of  their  period  of  ser- 
vice they  formed  a  portion  of  O'DonnelFs 
command,  and  of  course  fouglit  with  des- 
perate and  headlong  valor,  all  of  which,  in 
the  newspapers  of  the  day  and  even  in 
subsequent  histories,  being  set  down  to  the 
credit  of  ''British  heroism"  but,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  their  treatment  by 
friends  and  foes  alike  was  anything  but 
flattering.  By  the  Chiistinos  they  were 
regarded  as  mere  mercenaries,  and  by  the 
Carlists  as  adventurers  who  were  entitled 
neither  to  quarter  nor  the  slightest  honors 
of  war.  England,  too,  though  conniving  at 
their  enlistment,  refused  them  all  protection, 
and  the  remnant  of  those  who  had  not 
been  slain  in  open  battle  or  fallen  sacri- 
fices to  the  aroused  vengeance  of  the  Carlist 
peasantry,  was  led  homeward  by  an  officer 
named  O'Connell — destitute  alike  of  honor, 
glor}^,  and  even  of  the  common  necessaries 
of  life.  Tom  Steele,  the  afterwards  famous 
Pacificator  of  the  Repeal  agitation,  was,  we 
believe,  among  those  unfortunates,  and  it  is, 
probably,  to  the  experience  acquired   by 


FIELDMARSHAL    0^D0N2s"ELL.  287 

him  in  Spain  that  we  are  indebted  for  his 
subsequent  devotion  to  the  "moral  force" 
doctrine. 

The  civil  war  ended  in  1840 ;  the  Carlist 
leaders  were  driven  out  of  the  country,  and 
their  followers  either  in  their  graves  or  seek- 
ing refuge  in  the  mountains  and  caves. 
The  natural  results  of  such  internecine  strug- 
gles now  began  to  show  themselves.  The 
victors  commenced  to  quaiTel  over  the  spoils. 
One  of  the  first  that  felt  the  effects  of  the 
new  order  of  things  was  the  Count  of  Lucena. 
Becoming  dissatisfied  with  the  intrigues  of 
the  court  of  the  Queen  Regent,  he  joined  an 
insun^ectionary  party  in  Madrid  in  1841,  and 
having  proceeded  from  thence  to  Pampe- 
luna  he  was  threatened  by  overpowering 
numbers  of  the  government  troops  and  com- 
pelled to  seek  safety  in  flight.  By  this  rash 
act  he  also  lost  his  rank  in  the  army.  In 
two  years  afterwards  he  returned  to  Spain, 
di^ove  Espartero  from  power,  and  was  not 
only  restored  to  his  rank  of  Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral,  but  was  appointed  Captain-General  of 
Cuba,  the  duties  of  which  position   he  dis- 


288 

charged  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people  of 
that  beautiful  island  and  the  home  govei-n- 
ment,  till  1848.  His  e.-ecutive  abilities  while 
in  that  position  were  as  conspicuous  as  was 
his  miHtary  ski^^  during  the  war;  and  it 
may  be  said  of 'liim,  what  cannot  be  truth- 
fully alleged  of  many  of  his  predecessors  and 
successors,  that  he  endeavored  to  the  best 
of  his  power  to  govern  the  Cubans  with 
justice  and  moderation. 

On  his  return  home  he  took  his  seat  in  the 
Altse  Camarilla,  and  as  a  peaceful  legislator 
promised  to  become  even  a  more  useful 
member  of  the  body  politic  of  Spain  than 
he  had  been  as  an  active  defender  of  the 
throne  on  the  field  of  battle.  Many  of  his 
sjDeeches  during  his  parliamentary  career, 
though  short,  were  full  of  pith  and  good 
sense,  and  exhibited  an  intimacy  with  the  in- 
tricacies of  Spanish  politics  scarcely  to  be  ex- 
pected from  one  of  his  profession.  But  the 
affairs  of  Spain  were  fast  degenerating  into 
mere  chaos,  and  the  only  remedy,  if  it  can 
be  called  so,  was  araied  insuiTection.  The 
disease  of  the  grand  old  countr}^  had  become 


FIELDMAESHAL  o'dONNELL.     289 

chronic,  and  tliei'e  was  no  peaceful  cure  that 
could  be  applied  w}  ;>  effect.  An  ins;^•rec- 
tion  accordingl}^  took  place  in  1854,  headed 
by  O'Donnell,  who,  having  been  joined  by 
the  ''Progresistas,"  den.....ied  the  reestab- 
lishment  of  the  Constitution  of  1837,  the 
dismissal  of  the  ministry,  the  banishment 
of  Christina,  and  the  reorganization  of  the 
national  guard.  All  this  was  conceded,  and 
Espartero  returned  from  exile  to  act  as  re- 
gent for  the  young  queen  and  form  a  new 
ministry,  in  which  the  Count  of  Lucena  held 
the  portfolio  of  War. 

Two  years  afterwards,  this  ministry  was 
dissolved,  Espartero  again  sent  into  banish- 
ment, and  O'Donnell  occupied  the  post  of 
Prime-Minister  from  July  to  October,  1856. 
Then  came  his  time  to  relinquish  office,  but 
he  was  again  restored  in  June,  1858. 

In  1856  O'Donnell  had  been  created  a 
Fieldmarshal  of  Spain,  and  when  the  war 
between  that  country  and  Morocco  broke 
out  in  1859,  he,  as  the  highest  ranking  of- 
ficer in  the  army,  as  well  as  the  ablest  mili- 
tary leader,  was  appointed  to  the  command 


290  irishmen's  sons. 

of  tlie  army  of  invasion.  Though  the  war 
lasted  only  one  year,  it  was  full  of  glory  and 
success  to  the  Spanish  arms.  In  a  strange 
country,  beset  with  difficulties  and  discour- 
agement at  every  step,  and  confronted  by 
a  brave,  keen,  and  watchful  foe,  his  cam- 
paign was  one  series  of  successes,  so  that 
even  his  enemies  could  not  help  admiring 
his  audacity,  tact,  and  indomitable  per- 
severance. A  peace  most  advantageous  to 
Spain  was  concluded  in  1860,  and  the  con- 
queror returned  amid  the  applause  of  a 
proud  and  grateful  people,  having,  as  he 
hoped,  conferred  honor  on  his  country  and 
race,  and  in  return  received  the  title  of 
Duke  of  Tetuan. 

But  alas  !  for  the  uncertainty  of  political 
life  and  the  inconstancy  of  rulers,  particu- 
larly where  there  is  no  Salic  law;  the 
cheers  of  the  populace  had  scarcely  sub- 
sided and  the  favors  of  the  court  had  not  yet 
grown  stale,  when  he  again  found  himself  an 
exile,  and  for  the  last  time,  for  he  died  at 
Biarritz,  France,  in  1867,  in  the  fifty-ninth 
year  of  his  age,  almost  within  sight  of  that 


FIELDMARSHAL  O^DONNELL.      291 

country  which  he  had  served  for  almost 
half  a  century. 

His  death  created  a  deep  sensation  in 
Spain ;  and  those  who  had  been  most  active 
in  causing  his  banishment  now  vied  with  each 
other  in  honoring-  his  memory.  His  remains 
were  brought  to  Madrid  by  order  of  the 
queen,  and  with  regal  pomp  and  gorgeous 
ceremony  deposited  in  the  convent  of  Atocha. 
As  he  left  no  male  issue,  his  title  and  estates 
descend  to  his  nephew,  Charles  O'Donnell, 
Marquis  of  Altisnera. 

Whatever  may  be  our  opinions  of  his 
merits  as  a  statesman,  or  the  correctness  of 
his  judgment  as  a  politician,  few  will  deny 
Fieldmarshal  O'Donnell  the  possession  of 
the  leading  qualities  of  a  great  and  success- 
ful soldier:  comprehensiveness,  resolution, 
undaunted  moral  and  physical  courage,  and 
a  thorough  mastery  of  the  details  of  the  art 
of  war.  With  each  step  of  promotion,  from 
the  very  lowest  to  the  highest  rank,  his 
mind  seems  to  have  risen  equal,  if  not 
superior,  to  each  new  demand  upon  its  at- 
tention, and  the  result  was  that  whether 


292  irishmen's  sons. 

called  upon  to  act  as  sub-lieutenant,  colonel, 
or  general,  he  was  always  singularly 
prompt  and  invariably  successful.  In  per- 
sonal appearance  he  had  also  many  advan- 
tages,  ha^dng  been  considered  remarkably 
handsome,  even  in  his  declining  years,  with 
a  commanding'  fig-ure  and  a  stature  con- 
siderably  over  six  feet.  Under  other  cir- 
cumstances, he  might  have  stood  on  the  hills 
of  Donegal  or  have  been  inaugurated  at  Kil- 
macrenan  as  no  unworthy  representative  of 
the  long  line  of  illustrioHS  princes  of  the 
Cinel  Conaill. 


THE  END. 


Date  Due 


/- 

fe^^A- 

ti    Q  ^'^-^'-<';m 

•  *^ 

If^i 

1     ha 

battles, 

things, 

era  of  t 
Irish  t 

they  wi 

accord: 
a  homt 

into  va 

cution 

sword  i 
social 

actual 
d.ites, 

examir 

bv  Ins                      _. 

I 


ho, 
ide, 
rith 
;her 

the 
s.  f 
;hat 
ent, 
e  of 
ded 


n:: 
in 

Ct 

and 
ned 


lya 

few  of  these  noble  actions— to  cull' as  it  were,  some  tlowers  trom  the 
immortal  garlands  with  which  modern  histor>'  has  en  wreathed  the  brow 
of  Irish  valor,  and,  by  presenting  them  in  a  well-assorted  bouquet,  to 
show  to  the  world,  in  miniafSife  form,  what  grateful  tributes  have 
been  ofFered  to  the  exiled  and  long-suffering  children  of  the  land  in 
which  I  had  the  honor  of  being  born. 

"While  selecting  prominent  characters,  and  incidentally  touching 
on  the  relation  of  important  battles,  I  have  endeavored  also  to  pre- 
serve  as   much   as  possible   a   chronological   sequence,  so  that  those 


BOSTON  COLLEGE 


history  of  the 


who  have  neithel  Q  qqo^  01  91  QnOQ  a  history  oi  tne 
last  three  centuL.0,1  ?^^^  U1213029  0  i  afflictions  of 
Ireland,  may  incidentally  gain  some  notion  of  the  motives,  aims,  and 
innate  strength  of  her  people,  while  amusing  themselves  with  the 
moving  accounts  of  practical  warfare."  ^ 


CONTENTS. 


Hugh   O'Neill.— Battle  of  Yel. 

low  Ford. 
Owen  Roe  O'Neill. — Battle   of 

Benburb. 
A  Fighting  Bishop. — The  Con- 

if"  ■ 


Mad  Anthony  Wayne. — Cap- 
ture of  Ston}-  Point. 

General  John  Stark. — Battle 
of  Bennington. 

General  Edmund  Hand. — How 
—    ^-^"^ — ^^''=^---«iies 


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